Wednesday Thursday: Exchanges Powell and Trade Conflicts

wednesday thursday: Investors have been mostly pausing ahead of the two days of congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, according to Market Watch. Traders will be listening to the exchanges Powell has with lawmakers on Wednesday and Thursday for hints about the Fed's next move on interest rates. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 NIK, 0.20% was flat, while South Korea's Kospi 180721, 0.29% gained 0.6%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng HSI, 0.14% rose 0.3%, while the Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, 0.44% and Shenzhen Composite 399106, 0.51% were also flat. The market rallied through much of June after the central bank signaled it's prepared to cut rates to offset slowing global growth and the fallout from U.S. trade conflicts. Many traders still expect the Fed will cut its benchmark rate by a quarter percentage point at the end of the month, but fewer are now expecting a half-point reduction. But an unexpectedly strong U.S. jobs report last Friday has dimmed investors' expectations. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.