Stocks gain as investors look to key speech from Powell

Stocks rose Friday morning as Wall Street awaited comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Stocks rose Friday morning as Wall Street awaited comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The Dow rose 170 points, or 0.4%. The S&P 500 gained 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.9%. All three major indexes are on pace to end the week higher. Investors are looking to Powell’s highly anticipated speech at a key economic summit in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, at 10 am ET Friday. Powell has used the event in the past to hint at the Fed’s next policy move, sometimes leading to dramatic market swings. Kurt Spieler, chief investment officer at First National Bank of Omaha, says that with a September rate cut in sight, he will be looking for clues about how much more the Fed could cut rates during the rest of the year. Minutes from the Fed’s July meeting released Wednesday show that the “vast majority” of the Federal Open Market Committee would want to lower rates in September if inflation data continues to show a slowdown. Some officials noted the importance of communicating that the Fed is data dependent and has no preset path. Some officials also fretted that the softening labor market could weaken considerably if policy stays restrictive for too long. Recent data has shown that US job growth was weaker than previously estimated in the 12 months leading up to March. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ preliminary 2024 review of employment data indicated there were 818,000 fewer jobs during that period.