Investing.com– U.S. stocks drifted lower Tuesday, as investors digested comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell ahead of key labor market data.
At 09:35 ET (13:35 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 20 points, or 0.1%, the S&P 500 slipped 10 points, or 0.2%, and the NASDAQ Composite dropped 60 points, or 0.3%.
Powell, payrolls and Fed minutes in focus
Fed Chair Jerome Powell is speaking at a European Central Bank conference, and investors are parsing his remarks as they seek clues as to when the U.S. central bank will start cutting interest rates.
Additionally, the minutes of the Fed’s meeting are due on Wednesday, and come after the central bank forecast during the meeting that it will cut interest rates only once in 2024.
The May job openings and labor turnover report is also due out later Tuesday, but more focus will be on nonfarm payrolls on Friday.
The labor sector has been running hot despite sticky inflation and high interest rates, and is also a key consideration for the Fed in cutting interest rates.
But despite hawkish signals from the Fed, traders were seen increasing their bets that the central bank will cut rates by 25 basis points in September. The CME Fedwatch tool showed traders pricing in a 59% chance of such a possibility.
Paramount Global in play?
In the corporate sector, Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARAA) rose over 4% after The New York Times reported that billionaire Barry Diller was considering a bid for the firm.
Boeing (NYSE:BA) stock fell 0.1% after the Associated Press reported that the U.S. Justice Department is waiting for the planemaker to accept a plea deal to settle felony fraud charges related to two fatal crashes of its 737 Max planes.
Polestar Automotive (NASDAQ:PSNY) stock fell 4% after the EV maker reported a first-quarter operating loss.
Crude near two-month highs
Crude prices rose Tuesday, holding near two-month highs on expectations for rising fuel demand during the U.S. summer.
By 09:35 ET, the U.S. crude futures (WTI) had gained 0.8% to $84.04 a barrel, while the Brent contract had climbed 0.7% to $87.19 per barrel. Both benchmarks touched to their highest levels since the end of April during the previous session.
Gasoline demand in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer, is expected to ramp up as the summer travel season gathers steam due to the Independence Day holiday.
Traders will also be looking at the latest data on U.S. crude stockpiles from the industry body American Petroleum Institute later in the session, as well as possible disruptions from Hurricane Beryl on U.S. oil refining and offshore production in the Gulf of Mexico.
(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)
