US open: Stocks mixed as traders look ahead to Powell comments

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Wall Street trading got off to a mixed start on Tuesday as traders look ahead to tomorrow's speech from Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell.

As of 1450 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.12% at 34,053.44, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.15% to 4,359.26 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.13% firmer at 13,535.75.

The Dow opened 42.42 points lower on Tuesday, putting the blue-chip's recent rally on ice ahead of hotly anticipated comments from Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell later in the week.

Investors were seemingly searching for direction early on Tuesday after all three major indices delivered their best week of the year last week after the Federal Reserve opted to leave interest rates unchanged.

Focus will remain on the Federal Reserve this week, with chairman Jerome Powell set to give his assessment of the current state of the US economy on Wednesday.

Early on Tuesday, the yield on the benchmark ten-year Treasury note was nearly five basis points lower at 4.603%, while its two-year counterpart was changing hands marginally higher at 4.932%.

Energy prices were also drawing an amount of investor attention after hitting a two-month low as a result of Chinese trade and German manufacturing data highlighting decreased demand, with West Texas Intermediate down 2.49% at $78.81 a barrel and Brent Crude dropping 2.34% at $83.19 per barrel.

On the macro front, the US trade deficit in goods ticked up to $85.8bn in September, according to the Census Bureau, from an upwardly revised print of $84.6bn in August. Exports rose 2.9% to $174.0bn, while imports grew 2.4% to $259.8bn.

Elsewhere, Minneapolis Federal Reserve president Neel Kashkari said he wasn't convinced that the central bank's rate-hiking programme was over just yet, noting the Fed's primary goal was to bring inflation fully down to its 2% target, while Chicago Fed head Austan Goolsbee said a "golden path" soft landing that would see the US avoid a recession was still on the cards.

Federal Reserve bankers Christopher Waller, John Williams, and Lorie Logan will also deliver speeches throughout the course of the day.

In terms of earnings, DR Horton beat fourth-quarter estimates with its latest set of earnings, citing tight housing supply, while ridesharing giant Uber posted revenues that missed estimates, principally due to a change in accounting methods.

H&R Block, eBay, and GoPro were all slated to report their latest quarterly numbers after the close.