Stocks Closed Mixed Ahead Of Mr. Powell's Report To Congress Today  Image: Bigstock Stocks closed mixed yesterday, with the Dow and the S&P ending slightly higher, while the Nasdaq ended slightly lower. But the day started out much differently with all of the major indexes in the green. And they all proceeded to add to those gains as the morning wore on. But shortly after noon, those morning gains started to recede before ending with the mixed finish described above. Yesterday's Factory Orders report fell -1.6% m/m vs. last month's 1.7%, but views for -1.8%. Today we'll get Wholesale Inventories, and Consumer Credit. But everybody will be listening to Fed Chair, Jerome Powell, as he gives his semiannual testimony on Monetary Policy before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. (On Wednesday, he'll do the same, this time to the U.S. House Financial Services Committee.) Mr. Powell is not expected to break any new ground today (or Wednesday for that matter). But with the market so focused on inflation, and the Fed's next move on interest rates in 3 weeks, everybody will be listening for any clues on what the Fed's outlook is on inflation (given the hotter than expected reports over the last couple of weeks), and what they may be inclined to do on rates. He will speak at 10:00 AM ET. Aside from Mr. Powell's testimony this week, we'll also get the always important Employment Situation report on Friday, March 10. The Fed has repeatedly cited the strength in the labor market, and the persistent rise in wages, as making their fight against inflation more difficult. All eyes will be on that report to see if the outsized job gains continue, or if we finally see some softening. There is likely to be plenty of position squaring ahead of Friday's jobs numbers, next week's inflation reports (yes, we'll get another look at the CPI and PPI reports), and the Fed's announcement on rates on March 22. Should be a busy few weeks. See you tomorrow,  Kevin Matras
Executive Vice President, Zacks Investment Research | 
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