Not much on the US data release schedule- Powell in the spotlight for the S+P 500 later today

There were no US economic releases yesterday and there is only one of any note today. That is the 11am GMT release of the latest NFIB small business confidence index. This index was at 105.10 in December. It is not expected to deviate much in January (around 104.70 forecast). So that data will come and go and may not have much of a lasting impact, as is often the case. Today the bigger event is the US Fed boss, Jerome Powell testimony in front of the Senate banking committee. This is a semi-annual event and sure has the markets attention, at 3pm GMT today. It could throw up moves in the dollar and stocks. In that sense we look now at the broader US stock market, as defined by the S+P 500 index. The S+P kicked off the new week on the front foot yesterday. Of course that was greatly assisted by the gains in the Nasdaq 100. So, the S+P closed 40.45 points higher, at 6,066.44. The futures are lower right now though, as the heat comes out of the earlier record highs seen in the FTSE 100 and the DAX. Nearest points of real note for the S+P 500 today are- 6,083 on the topside and 6,020 on the bottom. The index is right now priced to reopen around 6,048