Market Braces for Powell’s Speech as U.S. Futures Climb on September 23, 2025

Futures edge higher while Wall Street holds its breath.

Powell's Podium Power

All eyes turn to the Fed chair as markets hang on every syllable. Traders position for potential policy clues that could shake September's trading patterns.

The waiting game pushes volatility metrics upward while liquidity thins. Typical pre-speech jitters amplify minor fluctuations into exaggerated moves.

Because nothing says 'stable monetary policy' like hanging trillion-dollar market swings on one person's carefully worded statements.

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During Monday’s regular trading session, all three major indexes closed in positive territory, with each recording new intra-day highs. The Dow Jones rose 0.14%, the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.70%, and the S&P 500 gained 0.44%, marking its third straight day of gains.

The rally was fueled by a 4% surge in shares of semiconductor giant Nvidia (NVDA), after the company announced a $100 billion deal with OpenAI to build advanced new data centers.

On the economic front, investors await Fed Chair Powell’s speech for insights into the future path of interest rates. Additionally, data from S&P Global Services PMI and S&P Global Manufacturing PMI are due later today.

The focus for the week, however, remains Friday’s release of the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation.

There are no notable earnings releases scheduled for the day.

Meanwhile, the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield was down, floating NEAR 4.13%. WTI crude oil futures were trending lower, hovering near $62.26 per barrel as of the last check. Additionally, the Gold Spot U.S. dollar price increased to nearly $3,787 per ounce on Tuesday.

Elsewhere, European stocks opened mostly higher on September 23, driven by momentum from the U.S. tech rally.

Asia-Pacific Markets Traded Mixed Today

Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Tuesday after Nvidia-OpenAI deal fueled renewed Optimism about the future of AI.

Notably, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 0.70% as the region braced for the impact of Typhoon Ragasa. In China, the Shanghai Composite dropped 0.18% and the Shenzhen Component declined 0.69%. Meanwhile, Japanese markets were closed for the Autumnal Equinox Day holiday.