The S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq are cautiously strengthening Tuesday in anticipation of a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell that could shed light on the regulator’s plans to raise interest rates.

At a previous press conference, Powell said the disinflationary process had begun, but warned that the central bank’s fight against rising prices was not over.

“The focus will be on how Powell assesses the state of the U.S. labor market and whether the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) thinks economic conditions have improved or deteriorated since the previous meeting,” said Michael Hewson of CMC Markets.

“Markets will also be watching to see whether Powell continues the same disinflation narrative… If he admits that inflation may be much more resilient than the Fed thought a month ago, it could trigger a pullback in U.S. stock markets.”

Two-year U.S. bond yields, which best reflect expectations for short-term rates, peaked last week at 4.94% since 2007 and have held below that level ever since.

Futures on the Dow were little moved, with the S&P 500 up 0.14% and the Nasdaq 100 up 0.23%. Shares of Meta Platforms Inc gained 1.8% in over-the-counter trading after the company reported it will lay off thousands of employees as early as this week as part of a new round of layoffs.

Earlier we reported that inflation in Germany was 8.7% in February.