Most emerging-market currencies fell, led by Russia’s ruble. She may use her remarks in Jackson Hole, Wyo., to indicate the central bank is ready to raise interest rates as soon as next month.
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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., August 22, 2016.
The euro edged up 0.1 percent to $1.1332, stepping off an overnight low of $1.1271.
The S&P 500 index advanced 7 points, or 0.3%, to 2,190.
At 11:27 a.m. ET (1527 GMT), the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was down 52.94 points, or 0.29 percent, at 18,499.63.
With the earnings season coming to an end, investor focus will shift to Yellen’s speech on Friday at the annual central bankers’ meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming to see whether the Fed is keen on raising interest rates in the coming months. Interest rate futures contracts indicate that the market is pricing in about 50/50 odds of a USA rate increase by the end of the year.
The dollar was mostly flat against (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-slips-as-investors-remain-cautious-ahead- of-jackson-hole-2016-08-23) all major currencies on Tuesday as investors held off making bets. Markets are implying around a 50-50 chance of a Fed hike by the end of the year but are not fully priced for move until mid- 2017.The currency market has been recently buffeted by conflicting views on US monetary policy.
A retreat in crude-oil prices also weighed on the broader market, dragging shares of oil and gas companies into the red.
Brent crude settled down $1.72, or 3.4 percent, at $49.16 a barrel. Canadian dollar weakened to one-week low against its USA counterpart on Monday as oil fell offsetting stronger-than expected domestic data.
US stocks on Tuesday were trading in positive territory, but off their best levels of the session, as upbeat data on the sale of new homes in the USA and a report on manufacturing in Europe supported buying appetite on Wall Street.
European stocks rose on Monday after falling the week before, as Swiss chemical company Syngenta gained after USA regulators cleared a takeover bid for the company by ChemChina.
Separately, Pfizer said it is buying the cancer drug company Medivation in a deal valued at about $14 billion.
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Chip maker Intersil Corp.(ISIL) soared 20% after Japan’s Renesas Electronics Corp. The technology index rose 0.61 percent, boosted by gains in Apple and Microsoft among others. Earnings are now showing a decline of 2.3 per cent for the quarter. The euro was last down 0.18 percent against the dollar at $1.1305.The euro hit a almost eight-week high against the dollar on August 18 of $1.1365, and the greenback hit an eight-week low against the Swiss franc of 0.9532 franc after what traders perceived as mixed signals regarding USA monetary policy. India’s Sensex lost 0.1 percent to 28,036.76 and Taiwan also declined. It had skidded 2.2 percent last week, as the dollar dipped below 100 yen.Crude oil futures dropped, giving back some of their recent gains that propelled oil into bull market territory, after technicals had it in a bear market early this month.
