The Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stated during his Senate hearing that inflation and employment are still far from the Fed's targets.

Powell hinted in his prepared speech that Fed's dovish approach (near zero interest rates and asset purchases) will remain for a while.

The Fed Chief added "if it turns out unwanted inflation pressures arise, and they’re persistent, we have the tools to deal with that."

Powell had stressed before that the US economy's recovery had moderated and employment slowed during the past few months, but expressed optimism about a return to recovery in tandem with vaccination.

US stock indices opened lower on Tuesday, amid broad sell-off wave in the tech sector, in addition to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's statements.

Powell will deliver his testimony before the US Senate Banking Committee later today, and he is expected to talk about monetary policy and the pandemic economic impact.

Powell stressed before that the US economy recovery had moderated and employment slowed during the past few months, but expressed optimism about a return to recovery in tandem with vaccination.

Johns Hopkins University reported that the US Covid-19 death toll exceeded 500,000 victims.

As of 15:12 GMT, Dow Jones fell 0.5% or 165 points to 31,359, Nasdaq fell 2.1% or 283 points to 13,251, and S&P 500 fell 0.8% or 33 points to 3,842.

Palladium prices fell on Tuesday, and gave up its early gains as the US dollar rose against most of its peers and hit its 1-week high.

Optimism about the strength of the global demand for industrial metal is lifting demand for Palladium, as industrial activity will return to pre-pandemic levels.

While this comes in tandem with the world's shift from fossil fuels to  other environmentally-friendly methods such as electric cars, which ought to raise demand for palladium, which is heavily used in the manufacturing of car parts that reduce carbon emissions and air pollutants, which would lead to increased demand for palladium.

The dollar index rose against a basket of major currencies by 0.2% to 90.1 points as of 14:19 GMT, after hitting a high of 90.2 points and a low of 89.9 points.

Palladium March futures fell 1.4% to $2,357.5 an ounce as of 14:21 GMT, with a high of $2,340.5 and a low of $2,356.

The US dollar rose on Tuesday, to consolidate above the 6-week low it hit earlier, while on track for the first daily gain in 4 days, thanks to renewed demand and ahead of a testimony by Fed chair Jerome Powell before the US Congress.

The dollar index rose 0.2% to 90.19 points, after opening at 90.02 points, and hit the lowest since January 13 at 89.94, after losing 0.4% yesterday, amid hopes over the global economic recovery.

Demand for the greenback was renewed today as investors eschewed ahead of the Fed Chair's statements before the US Congress.

At 15:00 GMT, Fed Chair Jerome Powell will testify on the Semiannual Monetary Policy Report before the Senate Banking Committee, via satellite.

If Powell succeeds in calming the market about the Fed’s ability to withstand high inflation rates without hiking interest rates, the US bond market would stabilize, and the US dollar will fall against its peers.