Wary financial markets will listen for any hint from Federal Reserve Chairman Mr Alan Greenspan that a pause in interest-rate rises may be near while lawmakers try to enlist him in the struggle over Social Security reform.
Odds are neither will get what they seek in the short term but some analysts think the influential Fed chief may begin laying the groundwork for an eventual shift in rate policy.
As Mr Greenspan kicks off two days of intensely awaited testimony before Congress, setting out the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee's views on the US economy, analysts say he has little cause now to alter a course begun last June.
Since then the economy has gained strength and the US central bank has responded by ratcheting official interest rates up six straight times to take the federal funds rate charged on overnight loans between banks to 2.5 per cent.
"There is scant reason for Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan to signal any change to the Fed's game plan," Morgan Stanley said in a commentary published yeserday.
Rates now are closer to "neutral," where they neither slow growth nor fan inflation, but still below what economists see as the magic 3 per cent to 5 per cent target level.