“Although global stocks have displayed phenomenal gains this month, the growing scepticism over the sustainability of the bull rally may encourage participants to heavily scrutinize Trump’s first speech to a joint session of Congress,” said Lukman Otunuga, research analyst at FXTM, in a note.
Equities in the U.S. have spiked into record-high territory since Trump’s election.Treasury yields and the dollar also surged, but have recently lost steam.
“Everyone is kind of holding back, waiting to hear what is said tonight,” said Kathy Jones, chief fixed income strategist at Charles Schwab. “The key will potentially be what is said on taxes because that’s what puts money in people’s pockets.”
The benchmark 10-year note yield traded near 2.39 percent Tuesday, while the dollar index held around 101; they began 2017 trading near 2.48 percent and 102.21, respectively.
In economic news, the second read on fourth-quarter U.S. GDP remained unchanged, but consumer spending was revised sharply higher to a 3.0 percent rate from 2.5 percent.
“There wasn’t much news in the report,” said Scott Clemons, chief investment strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman. “I do think the internals are interesting in terms of the direction; the magnitude was not great.”
“If anything, the quality of the data improve a little bit,” he said.
Meanwhile, low inventory and mortgage rates pushed home prices 5.8 percent higher in December, up from November’s 5.6 percent annual gain, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index.
Other data released Tuesday included consumer confidence for February, which hit its highest level since July 2001.
Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker, a voting member on the policymaking committee, reiterated his view that the Fed could raise rates three times this year.