US pre-open: Futures mixed as traders look ahead to Powell testimony

Wall Street futures were little changed ahead of the bell on Monday as traders held their breath for a number of economic data points and comments from policymakers scheduled for later in the week.

As of 1240 GMT, Dow Jones and S&P 500 futures were 0.10% and 0.06%, respectively, while Nasdaq-100 futures had the index opening 0.02% firmer.

The Dow closed 387.40 points higher on Friday as all three major averages wrapped up the week in positive territory despite elevated Treasury yields.

Market participants will look ahead to congressional testimony from Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell, which will hopefully provide insight into exactly what the central bank thinks about inflation and what its rate-hiking campaign will look like going forward.

Investors were also patiently awaiting February's jobs report on Friday, which comes after red hot numbers that revealed the US economy added 517,000 payrolls in the prior month. Economists expect to see a print of 225,000.

Zaye Capital's Naeem Aslam said: "US and European futures are on the move, and they have spent most of the time in the positive territory as traders try their best to maintain the positive momentum from the last week.

"However, there is no doubt that there is a sense of caution among traders and investors as it is this week that we are going to get the most important economic data and that is the US NFP data. In addition to this, Jerome Powell, the Fed Chairman, will also be releasing his comments about the Fed's view of the interest rate and which is also going to keep traders on edge."

On the macro front, January factory orders data will be published at 1500 GMT.

No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Monday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com