FED WATCH: Investors were looking ahead to a speech by Fed chair Janet Yellen at an annual summer gathering in Jackson Hole for indications of how policymakers view the outlook for economic growth and interest rates.
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“It’s oil and then we’ve got Jackson Hole hanging over us, and there is always some surprise that comes out of Jackson Hole”, said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank in Chicago.
While regional Fed presidents William Dudley, Dennis Lockhart and John Williams addressed the possibility of a September hike last week, Williams also fueled some speculation that the Fed would remain dovish when he called for a recalibration of the Fed’s long-term goals in an essay.
Michael Hewson. Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets UK, said: ‘While no one seriously expects the Federal Reserve to act on rates next month, some Fed officials seem extremely keen to try and keep the option on the table, with both the NY and California Fed President’s Dudley and Williams the most vocal, along with Fischer’s comments at the weekend.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 3.9 basis points to 1.541%, according to Tradeweb. In 2.43pm trading in NY, the Dow Jones Industrial Average eased 0.09 percent.
Futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were down 0.05% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 0.07% at 9:59 p.m. EDT.
The S&P closed 0.2% higher with the Nasdaq up 0.3% Tuesday.
European stocks initially fell slightly but recouped losses to rise 0.11%, having received a temporary boost in early trading after Syngenta’s proposed takeover by ChemChina was approved by U.S. regulators. Pfizer’s shares were marginally lower at $34.85.
In the Dow, declines in shares of Apple and those of Johnson & Johnson, last 1 percent and 0.7 percent weaker respectively, outweighed gains in shares of Visa and those of Boeing, up 0.5 percent and 0.4 respectively.
Shares of Syngenta rallied, closing 10.6 percent higher, as state-owned China National Chemical won approval from the USA national security regulator for its US$43 billion takeover of the Swiss chemical and seed company.
“For the most part, everyone’s pretty much waiting for Yellen”, said Mazen Issa, senior currency strategist at TD Securities in NY.
Chipmaker Intersil jumped 23.4% to US$19.28 after a source told Reuters that Japan’s Renesas was in the final stages of negotiations to acquire the company for about US$2.99bil (RM12.0bil).
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.12-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.00-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
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The euro eased to $1.1281 from $1.1324.
