Tuesday’s early trade: S&P gains in choppy trading ahead of Powell, Yellen remarks

NEW YORK: The S&P 500 rose in choppy trading on Tuesday as investors marked time ahead of remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen for clues about their tolerance for higher bond yields.

The S&P energy index slipped as oil prices slumped more than 3% on fears that new pandemic curbs and slow vaccine rollouts in Europe will slow a recovery in demand.

The US equity market rallied on Monday as a slide in bond yields drove a move out of undervalued economy-linked banks and energy stocks and moved into tech-focused shares in a slight reversal of this year’s trend.

The CBOE volatility index eased to its lowest level in 13 months.

The top two US economic officials, Powell and Yellen, are expected to assess a recovery that is evolving faster than expected but still facing risks from the coronavirus pandemic and inflation. Their congressional hearings begin at 12 p.m. ET (1600 GMT).

At 11:35 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 26.42 points, or 0.08% , to 32,704.78, the S&P 500 gained 5.38 points, or 0.14 %, to 3,945.97 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.40 points, or 0.01 %, to 13,378.94.