(Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended up on Thursday, investors awaiting the speech of the president of the Fed, Jerome Powell, during the Jackson Hole symposium on Friday, while Walmart displayed quarterly results deemed disappointing.
The Dow Jones index sold 0.34%, or 152.81 points, to 44,785.50 points.
The larger Standard & Poor’s 500 lost 25.61 points, or 0.40% to 6,370.17 points.
The Nasdaq Composite fell on its side of 72.54 points, or 0.34% to 21,100.312 points.
All eyes are turned to Jackson Hole’s economic policy symposium, where the president of the Fed, Jerome Powell, has to speak on Friday at 4:00 p.m. GMT. Investors will closely follow his speech to detect any index of a drop in American interest rates in September, after the recent low labor market.
“We still have about 80% that the Fed is lowering its interest rates, but this probability is now questioned. It is therefore, in a way, integrated into investor forecasts,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research.
“Investors say to themselves: ‘You know what? Let’s take some benefits now’,” he added.
The low discussion volumes of August will also be likely to amplify market movements after Powell’s comments.
Several Fed political decision -makers, including Beth Hammack (Cleveland), Raphael Bostic (Atlanta) and Jeffrey Schmid (Kansas City) have adopted a prudent tone and recognized the need to take into account economic data.
Most of the 11 S&P 500 sub-sectors fell, the large distribution in mind, while Walmart reported a profit per action adjusted below expectations for the first time in 13 quarters. The action of the distribution giant sold 4.49%.
“There is a somewhat mixed image of the consumption sector and there is uncertainty in the economy – whether it is the labor market or prices (up) due to an impact of customs duties, commented Chris Zaccarelli, director of investments at Northlight Asset Management.
Among other values, Coty fell by 21.60%after the manufacturer of beauty products provided for a drop in its current sales due to the low expenditure in the United States.
(Refused by Carolina Mandl in New York, Johann M Cherian and Sanchayaita Roy; Kate Entringer)
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