Wall St dips in lead up to Jackson Hole event; more Fed cues in focus
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Wall St dips in lead up to Jackson Hole event; more Fed cues in focus
(Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes slipped in volatile trading on Tuesday, ahead of a symposium at Jackson Hole later this week and minutes from the Federal Reserve's meeting last month which could offer clues on a September interest rate cut.
Traders are looking forward to any hints from Powell of a rate cut at the upcoming Fed meeting in September when he delivers his speech at the annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole on Friday.
"We expect Powell to set the table for a cut next month whilst stressing the data-dependent nature of the Fed's monetary policy decisions and pushing back against any sort of pre-commitment to an aggressive easing path," Win Thin, managing director, global head of markets strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman wrote in a note.
Atlanta Fed chief Raphael Bostic and Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr will speak later on Tuesday, while minutes from the Fed's last policy meeting are due on Wednesday.
Odds for the Fed cutting interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) in September stood at 73.5%, compared with a near-even split between a 50 and 25 bps cut seen a week ago, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
On Monday, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq extended gains to an eighth straight session, their longest winning streak so far this year, after a recent set of data raised optimism about the economic health and boosted expectations of a rate cut when the Fed meets in September.
The S&P 500 is expected to trade near current record levels at year-end, according to a Reuters poll of market strategists that suggests the AI rally is losing steam as investors wait for a widely expected U.S. central bank interest rate cut next month.
Boeing slipped 5% after the airline maker stopped test flights of its 777-9 models as it awaits certification after a component between the engine and airplane structure failed to perform during a maintenance check.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.96-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, and by a 2.2-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 36 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 59 new highs and 48 new lows.
