(Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange opened higher on Friday ahead of a highly anticipated speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole symposium, which could provide more precise guidance on future monetary policy.
In early trading, the Dow Jones index gained 180.12 points, or 0.44%, to 40,892.90 points, and the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 0.61% to 5,604.59 points.
The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.87%, or 153.60 points, to 17,772.95 points.
The Fed’s July minutes, released Wednesday, showed that a number of central bank officials were prepared to consider rate cuts in September.
Jerome Powell’s speech could offer more specific indications of the pace of easing to come and how the central bank will respond as the economy evolves.
He will speak at 1400 GMT to central bank officials at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium in Wyoming.
Analysts have fully priced in a scenario that the Fed will begin easing interest rates at its Sept. 17-18 meeting, with a 71.5% chance that the cut will be 25 basis points rather than 50 basis points, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
“The market was expecting the first rate cut to start in March of this year and investors have been disappointed on several occasions,” said Sam Stovall, chief strategist at CFRA Research in New York.
The only question now, he said, is how much the drop will be.
The latest US statistics, including weekly jobless claims, have eased fears of a US recession, which had shaken markets at the beginning of the month.
The S&P 500 is now about 1.8% from a record high reached in mid-July, after falling as much as 9.7% from that level.
Also due Friday, data from the U.S. Commerce Department’s Census Bureau is expected to show that new home sales stabilized in July after hitting a seven-month low in June.
Rate-sensitive growth stocks like Apple (+0.58%), Amazon.com (+0.37%) and Tesla (+2.37%) rebounded on Friday.
In individual values, the Wall Street-listed stock of French company Sequans Communications soared by 185.35% after Qualcomm (+1.17%) announced the acquisition of its 4G IoT (Internet of Things) technology.
Human resources specialist Workday is up 12.57% after reporting better-than-expected second-quarter profit and announcing a $1 billion share buyback plan.
(Written by Kate Entringer)
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