Wall Street Hovers Ahead of Warsh Speech
The US stock market is in a holding pattern on Friday as investors await a highly anticipated speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh at an annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
The S&P 500 added 0.1% in early trading, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 89 points, or 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite was close to unchanged.
The bond market was relatively steady with less than a half hour to go before Warsh's speech, which has been seen as a backdrop for major policy announcements by the Fed in the past.
Warsh has been adamant that he wants to give financial markets fewer clues about what the Fed plans to do with interest rates to keep inflation low and the job market strong. However, he is under pressure to offer more clarity on whether his tough talk about getting high inflation back down to 2% is just that or whether the Fed will back it up with action.
The Fed has kept its main interest rate steady since December, even though inflation remains well above its target. Higher rates could help improve inflation but would also slow the economy and hurt prices for investments.