Jerome Powell testified today before Congress and his mixed remarks were very similar to his prior statements - more data is needed for rate cuts. In his remarks, he stated that the economy is “no longer an overheated economy… (the job market) cooled considerably.” He also stated that they are aware of the “two-sided risks” and are monitoring both inflation and unemployment.

Interestingly, the bond market peaked and fell intraday on this mixed news. It is still up overall by 4.3 basis points to 4.312%.

At the open we had several names among the top performers.

The themes

• AI (picks and shovels)
• AI (energy)
• Consumer Spending (among wealthy)

Six of eleven sectors are up today. The two biggest winners are Utilities (XLU) and Financials (XLF). The biggest loser by a wide margin was materials (XLB), driven by a dip for most commodities as rate cut uncertainty sets in again after Jerome Powell testified.

On the economic front, we saw the small business sentiment index improving to 91.5 and surpassing the consensus of 90.2. The improvement was driven by business owners planning to increase inventories and a jump in expectations for better economic conditions.