S&P 500 stumbles ahead of Jackson Hole

The S&P 500 experienced a pullback overnight as investors anticipated Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's keynote address at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium.

The broad index slipped 0.89 per cent to close at 5,570.64. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 177.71 points, or 0.43 per cent, at 40,712.78. The Nasdaq Composite shed 1.67 per cent to close at 17,619.35 as technology stocks felt the brunt of Thursday’s declines.

Turning to US sectors, all sectors besides Real Estate, Financials and Energy closed lower overnight. Technology was the worst performer, closing lower by 2.13 per cent.

Overnight’s downturn marked a reversal from a recent recovery rally, which followed a market selloff on August 5th. All three major indexes had initially traded higher during the session but reversed course as bond yields rose and tech stocks struggled.

The 10-year US Treasury yield climbed nearly 9 basis points to 3.863 per cent, putting pressure on stocks.

Market participants are eagerly awaiting Powell's speech on Friday, hoping for clarity on interest rate policy. While traders are generally expecting a rate cut next month, there is disagreement over the magnitude of the reduction.

The Fed's July meeting minutes, released earlier this week, indicated that most policymakers favoured a rate reduction at the September meeting, contingent on incoming economic data.

In corporate news, Snowflake's stock plummeted 14.7 per cent due to rising costs. Urban Outfitters experienced a decline of 9.6 per cent after disappointing second-quarter sales results.

Peloton stock surged 35 per cent as the company's turnaround plan boosted sales for the first time in nine quarters. Advance Auto Parts shares plummeted 17 per cent after missing earnings estimates by a wide margin. Zoom Video stock soared 13 per cent after exceeding expectations for both earnings and revenue in the second quarter.

Tesla tumbled 5.7 per cent, pacing all seven of the magnificent seven lower.

Australian companies Accent Group, Latitude Group Holdings, Spark New Zealand, and Inghams Group are all scheduled to report their financial results today (AEST).

Futures

The SPI futures are pointing to a 0.5 per cent fall.

Currency

One Australian dollar at 7.35am was buying 67.04 US cents.

Commodities

Gold has lost 1.21 per cent. Silver has fallen 1.67 per cent. Copper has lost 0.96 per cent. Oil has gained 1.50 per cent.

Figures around the globe

European markets closed mixed. London’s FTSE added 0.06 per cent, Frankfurt gained 0.24 per cent, and Paris closed 0.01 per cent lower.

Turning to Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 0.68 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.44 per cent, while China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.27 per cent lower.

Yesterday, the Australian share market closed 0.21 per cent higher at 8026.96.

Ex-dividends
Amotiv (ASX:AOV) is paying 22 cents full franked
Ingenia Group (ASX:INA) is paying 6.1 cents unfranked
Lendlease Group (ASX:LLC) is paying 9.5126 cents 33.24 per cent franked
SRG Global Ltd (ASX:SRG) is paying 2.5 cents full franked
Vicinity Centres (ASX:VCX) is paying 5.9 cents unfranked

Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet, IRESS, TradingView, UBS, Bourse Data, Trading Economics, CoinMarketCap, Marketech.

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