Traders apparently are baking in expectations that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will confirm at Jackson Hole that a rate cut is forthcoming. After Thursday’s hiccup, stocks appear on track to open higher, with the index futures modestly higher early Friday. While delving into Powell’s speech, fund manager Louis Navellier said, “I suspect he’s going to say that the inflation has been in the Fed’s target range in the last three months, and he has to address the labor market as well.”
Analysts at Macquarie expect Powell to go with a neutral tone. “We wouldn’t be surprised by a moderate tone from Powell, which could have implications for currency markets and investor sentiment,” the analysts at the firm said, Investing.com reported. “Yet, we doubt that Powell will be so bold as to sound so ‘dovish,” they reportedly said.
Futures
Performance (+/-)
Nasdaq 100
+0.71%
S&P 500
+0.45%
Dow
+0.30%
R2K
+0.50%
In premarket trading on Friday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) climbed 0.50% to $559.01, and the Invesco QQQ ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ) gained 0.78% to $478.55, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Cues From Last Session:
Selling resumed on Thursday as a modest increase in jobless claims and a faster-than-expected expansion seen in the service sector sapped the risk appetite of traders. The major averages opened slightly higher and saw some volatility in early trading. They began to ...
