Hourly Market Review - Mar 4, 2024 12 PM

This week the focus shifts to D.C., where Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will testify before Congress amid concerns about another potential government shutdown. Michael Townsend of Schwab notes that there's never a dull moment in D.C.

On Wall Street, major U.S. indexes mostly slipped before Monday's open, following record highs on Friday driven by the strong semiconductor market. Apple's weakness weighed on the S&P 500 index, while Nvidia's strength provided some counterbalance. In other news, JetBlue and Spirit Airlines terminated their $3.8 billion merger agreement.

Investors are bracing for Powell's testimony, the February jobs report, and the alignment of fixed income trading with Fed projections. The market has adjusted to the Fed's signals, with Treasury yields expected to remain steady until the second half of the year and three rate cuts anticipated, consistent with the Fed's last dot plot.

The upcoming jobs report and February's inflation data could influence the Fed's future interest rate expectations, which will be updated in the dot plot due March 20. The 10-year Treasury note yield ticked up to 4.20% early Monday, below last week's peaks.

In the retail sector, Target is set to report earnings, and there may be increased volatility in the markets this week due to events in Washington, big-box earnings, and the jobs report. The semiconductor sector's recent rally has left it trading well above its long-term average, suggesting a potential pullback.

Movers of the hour:

BitFuFu is up 139.03% at $15.25.  

Phunware is up 97.04% at $13.95.  

Ocean Biomedical is up 55.06% at $3.10.  

BigBear.ai Holdings is up 30.64% at $4.52.  

The E. W. Scripps is up 29.92% at $4.89.