Wall Street drifted modestly lower before the opening bell today, the Associated Press reports, as markets turn their attention this week to a trove of labor market data and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s appearance before Congress. Futures for the S&P 500 slipped 0.1% before the bell, and futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.3%.
Some data the Fed might take into consideration at its meeting later this month will be Wednesday’s job openings and labor turnover report and the more exhaustive February jobs report that is due Friday. In between those, on Thursday, the Labor Department releases its weekly count of jobless claims applications, which serve as a proxy for layoffs.
In corporate news, Macy’s shares jumped more than 15% before the opening bell after Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital Management increased their offer to acquire the department store chain in a deal now valued at $6.6 billion.
In crypto trading, Bitcoin continued its momentum, gaining more than 3% to $65,126.20. The original cryptocurrency is up nearly 50% this year.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury inched back up to 4.21% this morning from 4.18% late Friday.
U.S. benchmark crude oil gave back 34 cents to $79.63 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, shed 27 cents to $83.28 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar rose to 150.43 Japanese yen from 150.08 yen.
