Stock Market Today: Tech leads gains with jobs on deck; Gold at record

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U.S. equity futures moved higher again Thursday, while the dollar slipped to a near six-week low and Treasury yields steadied, as investors reacted to a dovish assessment on rate cuts from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell while prepping for another round of economic data later in the session.

Stocks closed firmly higher Wednesday, with the S&P 500 gaining around 0.51%, following the first day of Powell's semiannual testimony to lawmakers on Capitol Hill. In those remarks he suggested rate cuts would likely begin later this year.

While signaling no change in the Fed's messaging, Powell nonetheless hinted that January's faster-than-expected inflation reading could have been an anomaly in an otherwise downward path. Powell added that he needs only "a bit more" information to find conviction in the idea that inflation is returning to the central bank's 2% target. 

Paired with data showing solid, but by no means outsized, jobs gains, plus wage components that suggest job-changers are losing some of their pricing power, investors sold the U.S. dollar and bought longer-dated Treasury bonds in the wake of Powell's appearance before the House Financial Services Committee.

Benchmark 10-year notes were last marked at 4.1%, the lowest in nearly two months, while 2-year notes held at 4.546% in early New York trading.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the  greenback against a basket of six global currencies, was marked 0.19% lower at 103.167, the lowest since Feb. 1. 

Gold prices, meanwhile, extended their recent run to an all-time high of $2,161.09 per ounce. The bullion is on its longest winning streak since November 2021. 

Stocks on Wall Street are set for another positive session, with investors eyeing weekly jobless claims and fourth-quarter labor cost data at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, as well as earnings from Costco  (COST) , Broadcom  (AVGO)  and Oracle  (ORCL)  after the closing bell.

Futures contracts tied to the S&P 500, which is up 6.5% for the year, are priced for a 12-point opening bell gain while those linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average suggest a 45-point move to the upside.

The tech-focused Nasdaq, meanwhile, is looking at a 77-point gain thanks in part to solid premarket moves for chipmakers Nvidia  (NVDA) , which may open above the $900 mark for the first time, and Intel  (INTC) , which is reportedly in line for a $3.5 billion contract with the U.S. military.

In Europe, the regionwide Stoxx 600 was marked 0.33% higher, after hitting an all-time peak of 500.05 points earlier in the session, ahead of the European Central Bank's March policy meeting later this morning in Frankfurt. 

Analysts expect the ECB to hold rates, including its benchmark deposit rate, unchanged while hinting at the first round of reductions later in the spring.

Overnight in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 slumped 1.25%. The yen had it biggest gain of the year following stronger-than-expected January wage data and suggestions from Bank of Japan officials that its negative rate strategies could be phased-out later in the year. 

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