U.S. stock index futures advanced early Friday following the worst day for the Dow in five months as investors waited to hear from Federal Reserve President Jerome Powell.
What’s happening
-
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures
YM00,
+0.44%
rose 145 points, or 0.4%, to 34286. -
S&P 500 futures
ES00,
+0.35%
gained 16 points, or 0.4%, to 4,402. -
Nasdaq 100 futures
NQ00,
+0.19%
gained 35 points, or 0.2%, to 14,897.
On Thursday, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite saw their biggest daily decline since Aug. 2, according to FactSet data. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 375 points, its biggest drop since March 22.
What’s driving markets
Stocks fell sharply on Thursday, though the S&P 500 remained higher on the week, but Friday promises to be an eventful session.
Even Nvidia stock
NVDA,
struggled to remain higher on Thursday after the chipmaker reported results and an outlook miles ahead of Wall Street estimates on Wednesday.
According to Bespoke Investment Group, the Nasdaq Composite has now failed to get back above its 50-day moving average four times since breaking that level two weeks ago.
Besides the technical indicators, stocks have suffered as bonds have sold off. The 10-year yield
BX:TMUBMUSD10Y
on Thursday reached its sixth highest level of the year as data shows the economy remains resilient. Yields reached their highest level since 2007 earlier this week.
Friday’s main event is Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole, Wyo., at 10:05 a.m. Eastern. Last year Powell clobbered markets with talk of the need to raise interest rates further and the likelihood that rate hikes would cause “some pain” for the U.S. economy.
However, one year later, expectations for GDP growth remain strong, with the Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow gauge suggesting 5.9% growth during the third quarter.
Now, investors will be watching to see if Powell sees the need to push interest rates even higher.
“I don’t think the Fed was committed to an Oct/Nov rate hike at the July FOMC meeting, but that’s because it had a very pessimistic outlook for growth at that time. And I think participants were very confident in that outlook, but incoming data has shaken that confidence,” said Timothy Duy, chief U.S. economist at SGH Macro Advisors.
The message of more work to do was articulated by Boston Fed President Susan Collins in recent interviews, including with MarketWatch’s Greg Robb.
Collins said she would need to see some slowing of the economy to be convinced that inflation is on the path back to its long-term 2% target. She had expected to see more of a slowdown in the economy, she conceded.
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde also will speak at Jackson Hole near the end of the U.S. trading day. At the last ECB meeting, Lagarde left open the possibility that the central bank would hike interest rates or pause in September.
Markets were pricing in about a two-in-five chance of a hike in September, as of Friday morning. This week’s purchasing managers indexes disappointed to the downside, and Germany on Friday confirmed its economy was stagnant in the second quarter.
Stocks in focus
Read the full article here
