Dow Rises as Warsh Pumps Up Rate Hike Bets

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh gave a hawkish tone at the annual Jackson Hole Symposium, saying that the Fed needs to be confident it's taking steps to bring down prices. The Dow Jones (DJIA) rose 0.03% Friday after his speech.

Warsh reiterated the Fed's commitment to bringing inflation down to 2%. He noted that while summer's PCE and CPI readings were better than expected, they don't tell him that underlying trends have meaningfully improved.

PCE grew 3.7% year-over-year in July, exceeding expectations of 3.6%. The odds of a 25-basis-point rate hike at the September Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) climbed to 59.5% from 35.4%, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Nvidia is leading the tech sector lower, partially erasing its earnings-driven gains from Thursday. On the other hand, Amazon rose nearly 4% after Evercore ISI hiked its price target to $355 from $315.