(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures edged lower on Monday after Wall Street notched up its best week of the year, while investors looked ahead to the centerpiece event of the week – Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole.
All three major indexes jumped last week as a bunch of economic data, including a consumer price index reading and a retail sales report, pointed to a soft-landing scenario for the economy.
Goldman Sachs lowered the odds of the United States slipping into a recession in the next 12 months to 20% from 25% following the latest weekly jobless claims and retail sales reports.
Over the weekend, Chicago Fed chief Austan Goolsbee said that not cutting rates next month could hurt the job market, while San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly, a voting member on this year’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), said in an interview with the Financial Times that it is time to consider adjusting borrowing costs.
When Fed Chair Jerome Powell speaks at the economic symposium in Jackson Hole on Friday, investors will be looking for any signs of acknowledgement of a rate cut in September.
Traders currently see a 72% chance of the Fed cutting interest rates by 25-basis-points (bps) in September, compared to an even split between a 50 and 25 bps cut seen a week ago, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
Minutes from the Fed’s last policy meeting are due on Wednesday. Later in the day, comments from Fed Board Governor Christopher Waller would also be on investors’ radar.
The earnings calendar is slim this week, with cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks, retailer Target and home improvement chain Lowe’s being some of the major firms set report later in the week.
At 05:10 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 20 points, or 0.05%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 5.25 points, or 0.09% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 55.25 points, or 0.28%.
Most megacap and growth stocks slipped in premarket trading, with Nvidia and Tesla falling more than 1% after rallying last week.
Dutch Bros fell almost 3% after brokerage Piper Sandler downgraded the coffee chain’s rating to “neutral” from “overweight”.
B. Riley Financial slid 8.6% following a more than 65% drop last week. Co-founder and co-CEO Bryant Riley had offered to buy the bank on Friday, following its warning of a hit from its investment in Vitamin Shoppe-owner Franchise Group.
(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
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