Futures contracts tied to the major U.S. stock indexes slipped during the overnight session Wednesday evening as Wall Street turned its attention to an upcoming address from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

Dow futures lost 25 points, pointing to a muted move when regular equity trading resumes Thursday morning. Both S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures ticked lower, each pointing to flat opens.

Thursday’s trading is likely to be driven in large part by comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who is expected at 9:10 a.m. ET to introduce a new pandemic-era tool to combat the economic impact of Covid-19 and foster inflation in the U.S. The Fed’s annual symposium will be held virtually this year instead of the usual locale of Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

The central bank has for years tried to keep inflation at 2%, a rate of price increase that policymakers consider both manageable and …continued .
[Source: CNBC News]