US STOCKS-Futures drop ahead of Powell, Yellen testimonies

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* Futures down: Dow 0.52%, S&P 0.50%, Nasdaq 0.33%

By Medha Singh
March 23 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures slid on
Tuesday as energy stocks dropped while investors awaited remarks
from Fed Chair Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen
for clues on the pace of economic rebound.
Chevron Corp CVX.N , Occidental Petroleum Corp OXY.N and
Exxon Mobil Corp XOM.N shed between 1.5% and 3.5% premarket as
oil prices slumped 3% on fears that new pandemic curbs and slow
vaccine rollouts in Europe will slow a recovery in demand. O/R
Travel-related stocks including United Airlines Holdings
UAL.O , American Airlines AAL.O , Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd
RCL.N and Carnival Corp CCL.N slipped between 1.6% and 3.9%.
Wall Street's main indexes rallied on Monday as tech-focused
stocks caught a bid after coming under pressure since last month
as their valuations looked stretched amid a spike in bond
yields.
Apple Inc AAPL.O , Facebook Inc FB.O and Microsoft Corp
MSFT.O eased between 0.2% and 0.7% from the previous session's
jump.
Powell is expected to reiterate his confidence in the
economy's growth while cautioning the recovery is far from
complete. Yellen is likely to paint an optimistic picture of the
economy before the U.S. lawmakers later in the day. Their
congressional hearings begin at 12 p.m. ET (1600 GMT).
"We kind of know where the Fed is at in terms of yields,
inflation and accommodation. We will want to hear a lot more
about what Yellen says on additional stimulus," said Neil
Wilson, chief market analyst for Markets.com.
At 6:35 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis 1YMcv1 were down 171 points,
or 0.52%, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were down 19.75 points, or
0.5% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were down 43 points, or
0.33%.
Shares of videogame retailer GameStop Corp GME.N , which is
transitioning itself into an ecommerce firm, dropped 0.6% ahead
of its fourth-quarter results due after markets close. The stock
has been at the center of a recent retail trading frenzy.
U.S.-listed shares of AstraZeneca Plc AZN.O fell 2.5%
after a U.S. health agency raised fresh doubt on the results of
the drugmaker's large-scale COVID-19 vaccine trials.