US stocks subdued during opening trade, focus on Fedspeak

Major US equity indices witnessed a weaker opening on Tuesday as investors await a slew of speeches from several FOMC members, including the Fed Chair Janet Yellen. 

During opening trade, both the Dow Jones Industrial Average traded in negative territory for the ninth consecutive session, losing around 30-points to 20,525, while the broader S&P 500 Index fell nearly 4-points to 2,338. Meanwhile, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index reversed 10-points and dropped to 5,830. 

Investors on Tuesday will remain focused on comments from various Fed officials. Against the backdrop of a big setback to the US President Donald Trump's economic reforms, it would be interesting to see if Fed speakers hint towards any change in the central bank's monetary policy stance. 

Meanwhile, fading optimism surrounding Trump's other pro-growth economic policies might continue to weigh on investors' sentiment and should remain a key overhang for equities in coming days.

On the economic data front, the US goods trade balance fell more than expected to $64.8 billion in February from $68.8 billion in January, while the Case-Shiller January data showed home prices hit a 31-month high. 

Technical outlook

Carol Harmer, Founder at charmertradingacademy.com notes, "S&P bounced from 2322...we are still hanging about this area....sellers down under 2330 hoping that the market will fail...Now as well as being the closing price on Friday night 2345 is also the short term 38.2 Fib...so unless we break and hold above here the market will remain under pressure...2322/17 remains the downside target...Now if we break and hold above 2345 then there is a good chance of 2352/55 resistance band to be tested. Above 2355 and we have 2361/63 break point as a target."