Gold prices edge higher; Russia-Ukraine, Jackson Hole symposium in spotlight
Investing.com-- U.S. stock index futures rose slightly on Sunday evening, extending gains after a mildly positive week as investors looked to the upcoming Jackson Hole Symposium for more cues on interest rates.
Futures rose after Wall Street clocked a series of record highs last week, amid increasing bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in September. But hot producer inflation data somewhat dented this notion.
Risk aversion over U.S.-Russia talks for an end to the Ukraine war also weighed, with markets now looking to talks between Kyiv and Washington.
A host of key U.S. retail earnings are also on tap this week, and will offer up more cues on the strength of the consumer.
S&P 500 Futures rose 0.1% to 6,479.0 points, while Nasdaq 100 Futures rose 0.2% to 23,845.0 points by 19:27 ET (23:27 GMT). Dow Jones Futures rose 0.1% to 45,085.0 points.
Jackson Hole awaited for more rate cues
Focus this week is squarely on Federal Reserve Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole symposium later this week, which is expected to provide more cues on interest rates.
Powell’s address comes amid growing conviction that the Fed will cut interest rates by 25 basis points in September, especially following soft payrolls and consumer inflation readings for July.
But strong producer inflation data released last week somewhat hurt bets on a September cut, in turn weighing on Wall Street. Investors are pricing in a 83% chance for a 25 bps cut in September, CME Fedwatch showed.
The S&P 500 fell 0.3% to 6,449.80 points, while the NASDAQ Composite fell 0.4% to 44,946.12 points on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1% to 44,946.12 points. All three indexes rose between 0.7% and 1.9% last week, with the Dow outpacing its peers.
The Dow outperformed chiefly on gains in insurer Unitedhealth Group (NYSE:UNH), after Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE:BRKa) disclosed a stake in the firm.
Walmart, Target to round off Q2 earnings
A host of major retailers are set to report their second-quarter earnings this week, rounding off a mostly positive reporting season.
Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) and Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) will be the most closely watched, with other major retailers including Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD), Lowe’s Companies Inc (NYSE:LOW), and TJX Companies Inc (NYSE:TJX) also on tap.
The earnings will provide more insight into the U.S. consumer, amid some concerns that President Donald Trump’s tariffs will chip away at private spending.
About 90% of S&P 500 companies have reported June quarter earnings so far, with 81% of the ones that reported logging stronger-than-expected prints, data from FactSet showed.
Other majors reporting this week include Workday Inc (NASDAQ:WDAY), Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA), Baidu Inc (NASDAQ:BIDU), Palo Alto Networks Inc (NASDAQ:PANW), and Analog Devices Inc (NASDAQ:ADI).