On Friday, U.S. stock index futures strengthened. It was after investors observed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at a meeting of central bankers in Jackson Hole.
The speech was for validation that the central bank will cut interest rates next month.
The main Wall Street indexes are on course to end the week higher after three straight weeks of decline on doubts about the worsening trade war with China and its impact on growth.
The growth was through the help of signs that U.S. consumer demand persisted strong.
It is crucial to the more optimistic mood.
However, there is an assumption that the Fed and other central banks, as well as some governments, are ready to take more moves to prevent any risk of a plunge into recession in the months ahead.
Issued earlier this week are the minutes of the Fed’s meeting in July showing policymakers are in hesitation about whether a full cycle of rate cuts was justified.
Stock investors are eager that Powell will sound more persuaded when he speaks at 10 am, although most analysts were playing down the chance of a strong assurance on more cuts.
In a note, a managing partner of VM Markets, Stephen Innes, said, “While they will likely go along with the market’s expectations for more cuts, even the most dovish amongst us must now concede the Fed will fall short of signaling a willingness to race ahead of the curve.”
Another Week of Positive Records
This week, the mood were still curved more positive.
Dow e-minis edged up 39 points, or 0.15%. S&P 500 e-minis rose 5.75 points, or 0.2%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis grew 20.75 points, or 0.27%.
Indexes were placed on course for gains of more than 1% this week.
Recent U.S. economic data has made known that the labor market and consumer demand persisted solid.
This is even if the manufacturing sector undergo a reduction this month. It was after joining a global slowdown due to trade strains.
In a tweet, China’s Global Times editor in chief indicated that Beijing will take additional countermeasures in reply to U.S. tariffs on $300 billion Chinese goods.
Among specific stocks, shares of Salesforce.com Inc soared about 7% premarket. It was after cloud-based service provider estimated third-quarter and full-year revenue above Wall Street evaluations.
HP Inc weakened 8.1% after Chief Executive Officer Dion Weisler resigned. The PC maker forecast for fourth-quarter profit also did not meet analysts’ estimates.
Shares of Foot Locker Inc sunk 11.8% after the footwear retailer lost estimates on second-quarter revenue and profit.
