US pre-open: Stocks seen touch higher as investors eye Yellen

US futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Wall Street as investors looked to a testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and kept an eye on any Brexit developments.

At 1115 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were all 0.3% firmer.

At the same time, oil prices fell back. West Texas Intermediate was down 0.8% at $48.94 a barrel and Brent crude was off 0.9% at $50.20.

Stocks in Europe were just a touch firmer following the bumper gains in the previous session, when investors welcomed polls showing a swing in favour of the Remain camp in the EU referendum.

On Tuesday, however, the polls were split down the middle. An ORB poll for the Daily Telegraph put the Remain campaign in the lead by seven points, while a poll from YouGov for the Times gave the Leave camp a two-point lead.

Although the focus was likely to remain firmly on the UK referendum, investors were also awaiting Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s semi-annual testimony before the Senate Banking Committee at 1500 BST.

Ana Thaker, market economist at PhillipCapitalUK, said: “She is expected to be grilled on the state of the US economy and the decision to keep monetary policy unchanged. Whilst she is unlikely to give any timeline for when rates may rise, she may provide more information on the factors determining a rate rise in the US and the importance of inflation and labour market data.

“A potential ‘Brexit’ was touted as a reason to keep rates unchanged last month so as the referendum approaches, she may be questioned about the path of monetary policy in the event that the UK votes to stay in. The US dollar remains weak across the board and this trend looks set to continue until Thursday.”

Still, some analysts were fairly sceptical that Yellen would say anything of note.

“We do not expect much new information given that the FOMC meeting and Yellen’s press conference were just last week,” said Societe Generale. “Overall, it was a dovish message from the Fed, but it is consistent with our view that we will see only one hike this year, in December.”

In corporate news, software company Sabre Corp was a touch weaker in pre-market trade after saying chief executive Tom Klein will resign.

Elsewhere, Facebook was likely to be in focus after its executives reiterated their interest in entering China.

Housebuilder Lennar Cop and car seller CarMax were slated to report earnings before the opening bell.