By , Associated Press | April 2, 2008
Wall Street appeared poised to modestly extend a massive prior day rally at today’s opening as the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, prepared to give his economic views.
Mr. Bernanke will testify about the health of the economy to Congress. As usual, investors are hoping he will drop some hints as to whether the central bank plans to continue its aggressive interest rate cutting program.
However, they also will want to know how weak he considers the economy to be. Numerous economists have said they believe a recession is under way. However, Fed officials generally are cautious when describing the economy and a recession consists of two consecutive quarters of economic contraction and can only be declared in hindsight.
In addition, investors will be curious to see if Mr. Bernanke offers any insights into the Fed's role in aiding JP Morgan Chase & Co.'s purchase of Bear Stearns Cos. and whether he believes the credit crisis is nearing a conclusion. The Fed chairman is set to begin speaking as the market opens at 9:30 a.m.
Government data on factory orders in February is due at 10 a.m. Eastern. According to Thomson/IFR, there should be an unchanged level of orders in February, following a January decline of 2.5%.
