Global market update: Following US Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s balanced speech at Jackson Hole Symposium, US stock market ended green on Friday. Dow Jones gained 0.73 per cent, tech index Nasdaq surged 0.94 per cent whereas S&P 500 index finished 0.67 per cent higher. These Wall Street gains lifted the morale of global stock market, and the MSCI All Country stock index edged 0.12 per cent higher.
US bond investors dialled back their bets of a rate hike in November and December following Powell’s remarks, though Treasury yields traded near break-even by late morning.
The yield on 10-year Treasury notes was steady at 4.2314 per cent and the two-year yield, which reflects interest rate expectations, rose to 5.0735 per cent.
The US dollar index — which measures the currency against a basket of six developed-market peers, including the euro — also gave up earlier gains to stand unchanged, after jumping as much as 0.35 per cent to 104.44, a level last seen in early June.
“USD gains have moderated through European trade and the USD has lost minor ground against some high beta currencies as equity markets have strengthened over the session,” said Shaun Osborne, chief FX strategist at Scotiabank.
Finding hope for both bulls and bears in US Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole meeting, David Sadkin, President at Bel Air Investment Advisors said, “There was a little something for everybody. If you’re a bear, you heard him say we’re going to be restrictive, and we might hike rates,” adding, “If you’re a bull, you heard him say, we’re making progress against inflation and we still expect there to be a lag in from the effects of monetary policy, and we could be on hold.”
In remarks delivered at the central bank conference in Jackson Hole Symposium, US Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said that inflation was still too high even with recent favourable readings, and that the US central bank has substantial ground to cover to regain price stability.
But at the same time, Powell noted that economic uncertainty called for “agile” monetary policy making, and that the Fed will proceed “carefully” when deciding its next policy move.
Powell’s message on Friday lined up with the mixed signals by other Fed officials in the final run-up to the conference.
In energy markets, crude prices rose on Friday but remained on track for weekly declines. Brent crude rose $1.42 per barrel or 1.7 per cent to $84.78 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up $1.02 per barrel or 1.29 per cent to $80.07 a barrel.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
Updated: 26 Aug 2023, 08:10 AM IST