US stocks fall amid focus on bond market

US stock indices fell on Wednesday, as the Treasury yield rose, and after the market absorbed Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's statements.

US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stressed during his semi-annual testimony before the Senate Banking Committee that employment and inflation rates are still far from the Fed's goals.

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.

Powell will testify later today before the US House of Representatives Finance Committee, via satellite.

As for stocks, Dow Jones fell 0.2% or 71 points to 31,466 as of 15:06 GMT, Nasdaq fell 1.3% or 170 points to 13,290, and S&P 500 fell 0.4% or 17 points to 3,864.