Treasury Auction and Fedspeak in Focus

Stock markets are soft and bonds are better bid ahead of afternoon speeches by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and the lone FOMC dissenter Tom Hoenig. No major economic data will be released this morning but in the late afternoon markets will see the latest results for consumer credit.

The afternoon will also see a Treasury auction for benchmark 10-year Treasury notes, which early this morning are firmer at 3.94%.

90 minutes before the bell, Dow futures are down 23 points to 10,890 and S&P 500 futures are off 3.80 points to 1,182.00.

NYMEX crude oil futures are down 66 cents to $86.18, while Gold is up 50 cents to $1136.50.

Meantime, the US dollar index is up 19 basis points to 81.58.

Key Events Today:

1:30 â€