NEW YORK, Dec 1 — Wall Street stocks mostly slipped early today after major gains in November, as investors looked ahead to remarks by US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for hints on upcoming interest rate policy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat at 35,949.48, while the broad-based S&P 500 retreated 0.3 per cent to 4,555.90.
The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.5 per cent to 14,159.88.
The market will be focused on Powell’s comments today — a key event as he sets the stage ahead of the US central bank’s next meeting in mid-December.
“Because they’re going into the blackout period, this will be the last comment before the actual meeting,” said Quincy Krosby of LPL Financial.
Powell is due to speak at 11am (1600 GMT/midnight Malaysian time), and Briefing.com said in a note that there was likely “some hesitation in play” ahead of the remarks.
“Recent gains have been partially predicated on the idea that the Fed will cut rates sooner rather than later, so market participants will be keenly focused on Mr Powell’s tone today,” Briefing.com added.
Meanwhile, Krosby said the market is entering December from a strong position, and would need to “rest a bit before it climbs.”
The final day of November saw the Dow and the S&P 500 both up almost nine per cent for the month, while the Nasdaq rose more than 10 per cent. — AFP
