us stock futures were flat on tuesday night the action comes after a selloff fueled by federal reserve chairman jerome powells comments indicating interest rates may need to go higher for longer dow jones industrial average futures ticked higher by 17 points or 005 sp 500 and nasdaq 100 futures added 003 and 007 respectively in regular trading tuesday the dow closed nearly 575 points lower and turned negative for 2023 the sp 500 slid 153 to close below the key 4000 threshold and the nasdaq composite lost 125 the sharp decline for stocks was accompanied by a spike in bond yields with the rate on the 2year treasury surpassing 5 and touching the highest level since 2007 the shakeup in markets came after fed chairman jerome powell spoke before the senate banking housing and urban affairs committee powell cautioned lawmakers that the central banks terminal rate will likely be higher than previously anticipated due to stubbornly high economic data in recent weeks powell is being very very clear that if you look at what happened over the past year and a half the call on inflation didnt pan out morgan stanleys global chief economist seth carpenter said on cnbcs closing bell overtime i think now powell is very much on board with the idea that he does not want to get caught flatfooted again and so opening the door very wide for a 50 basis point hike was exactly what he did carpenter added on wednesday investors will be closely watching powell speak before the house financial services committee separately richmond fed president tom barkin will also be speaking on the labor market wednesday morning januarys job openings and labor turnover data is due as is the adp jobs report