US equity markets fell as Treasury yields resumed their march higher following new Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's testimony before the House Financial Services Committee in which he noted his outlook for the US economy has strengthened since December - Dow down -299-points or -1.16%. The broader S&P500 fell -1.27% booked its worst single-session decline since 8 February, with consumer discretionary (down -2.12%) leading all 11 primary sectors lower. The technology-centric NASDAQ lost -1.23%. Powell also noted that inflation was approaching closer to the central bank’s 2% target and that fiscal policy was turning more “stimulative”. Powell said the Fed would afford the US economy room to grow while preventing inflation from getting out of hand. Powell's comments lifted the US dollar index to a two-week high (up ~0.6% to 90.417).
