U.S. stock futures are lower after last week’s gains on increased expectations for a Federal Reserve rate cut in September.
With that in mind, investors will be focused on remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell at the end of the week at the annual Jackson Hole Economic Symposium of global central bankers and finance chiefs. They’ll be looking for hints Powell may be done waiting to see tariff effects before cutting rates again.
“To the extent Powell does talk about the policy outlook next week, we see him noting the softer July jobs report as tilting some of the employment-inflation risk balance,” wrote Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist at J.P. Morgan. “However, with several Fed speakers recently stating that the case for a cut has not been made, and with more employment data to come, we don’t think Powell can firmly guide toward easing at the next meeting.”
The CME FedWatch tool that tracks the odds markets give for a rate move at each Fed policy meeting showed expectations for a Fed easing at the next policy meeting jumped to more than 90%. Since then, chances have dropped back to a nearly 85% chance.
Before Powell’s speech, investors will get a glimpse midweek of the dissents at the last Fed meeting. Fed governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman voted against the central bank’s decision to keep rates unchanged between 4.25%-4.50% last month. It was the first time since 1993 that two governors dissented.
At 6:45 a.m. ET, futures tied to the blue-chip Dow slipped -0.12%, while broad S&P 500 futures fell-0.13% and tech-heavy Nasdaq futures lost -0.13%.
Discount giants Walmart and Target, and home improvement chains Home Depot and Lowe’s are among the key retailers slated to report earnings this week. How the retail chains are faring can provide a window into tariffs effects and the health of consumers.
Of the more than 92% of S&P 500 companies that have already reported this quarter, almost 82% have surpassed Wall Street’s expectations, according to FactSet.
Michael Saylor, executive chairman of Microstrategy, posted on Aug. 17 on social media a chart suggesting that the company may buy more Bitcoin to add to its treasury.
Medora Lee is a money, markets and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at mjlee@usatoday.com and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday morning.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: US stock futures lower as investors focus on Powell remarks