Investing.com - Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said Wednesday that financial conditions have become less supportive to growth as foreign developments pose risks to the economic outlook.
If these conditions persist, they could weigh on the economy, the Fed chief added.
In prepared remarks released before her testimony to the House Financial Services committee, Fed Chair Yellen said if the economy were to disappoint, a lower path of the Federal Funds rate would be appropriate.
Market players viewed Yellen’s comments as slightly dovish. Her testimony to the House Financial Services Committee will start at 15:00GMT, or 10:00AM ET.
Market participants have all but priced out any rate hikes this year amid signs of stress in the global financial system, while the Fed is indicating four more.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.1268 from around 1.1250 ahead of the release of the comments, GBP/USD was at 1.4531 from 1.4550 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 114.65 from 115.02 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 96.13, compared to 96.20 shortly before Yellen’s remarks.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open. The Dow futures jumped 73 points, or 0.46%, the S&P 500 futures rose 12 points, or 0.65%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures rallied 49 points, or 1.24%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,189.90 a troy ounce, compared to $1,188.20 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $27.87 a barrel from $28.34 earlier.