Powell's remarks would be scrutinized amid rising bets that the
United States might adopt negative interest rates for the first
time to combat the coronavirus pandemic's severe economic blow.
While the Fed's benchmark interest rate is already zero, Powell
said negative interest rates would be unlikely to help the
economy in March. Powell's webcast address will begin at 9 a.m.
ET (1300 GMT).
Unprecedented stimulus actions from the central bank and hopes
of an economic recovery have been vital in helping the main U.S.
stock indexes rise about 30% from their March lows.
The S&P 500 ended 2% lower on Tuesday as leading U.S. infectious
disease expert Anthony Fauci warned any premature moves to
reopen the economy could trigger more outbreaks and set back
economic recovery.
On the economic front, the Labor Department's data is expected
to show U.S. producer price index dropped 0.5% in April after
slipping 0.2% a month earlier. The data is expected at 8:30 a.m.
ET.
At 6:00 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis <1YMcv1> were up 131 points, or
0.56%. S&P 500 e-minis <EScv1> were up 13.25 points, or 0.46%
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQcv1> were up 56.25 points, or 0.62%.
SPDR S&P 500 ETFs <SPY.P> were up 0.1%.
(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak
Dasgupta)
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