Futures pause after last week's rally; Jackson Hole in focus

By Shashwat Chauhan and Johann M Cherian

(Reuters) -U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Monday after Wall Street notched up its best week of the year, while investors looked ahead to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech at Jackson Hole for rate-cut indications.

All three major indexes jumped last week as a set of economic data, including a consumer price index reading and a retail sales report, soothed investor concerns of a recession in the world's largest economy.

The gains came after a rout across global markets earlier in the month that was triggered by a higher-than-expected increase in the U.S. unemployment rate for July.

Goldman Sachs lowered the odds of the United States slipping into a recession in the next 12 months to 20% from 25% following the latest weekly jobless claims and retail sales reports.

Minutes from the Fed's last policy meeting are due on Wednesday and Powell will speak at the economic symposium in Jackson Hole on Friday, with investors keeping an eye out for any signs of acknowledgement of a rate cut in September.

"We expect Powell to provide a sense of calm to the markets, indicating that the Fed is moving towards a rate cut but there is no need to panic," analysts at Jefferies said.

"He would likely acknowledge the slowdown in the employment picture but indicate that the broader economy still remains resilient."

Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said the debate about potentially cutting interest rates in September is an appropriate one to have because of a rising possibility of a weakening labor market, according to a report.

Over the weekend, Chicago Fed chief Austan Goolsbee said not cutting rates next month could hurt the job market, while a report showed San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said it was time to consider adjusting borrowing costs.

Traders currently see a 73.5% chance of the Fed cutting interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) in September, compared with an even split between a 50 and 25 bps cut seen a week ago, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

Investors are also awaiting comments from Fed Board Governor Christopher Waller later on Monday.

At 07:13 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 4 points, or 0.01%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 2.75 points, or 0.05%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 11 points, or 0.06%.

Earnings from cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW ), retailer Target and home improvement chain Lowe's (NYSE:LOW ) are expected through the week.

Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD ) rose 2.7% after the chipmaker said it plans to acquire server maker ZT Systems for $4.9 billion, to expand its portfolio of artificial intelligence chips and hardware and compete better with Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA ).



Estee Lauder (NYSE:EL ) fell 5.6% after the cosmetics maker forecast annual profit below expectations.

B. Riley Financial slid 12.8% following a drop of over 65% last week. Co-founder and co-CEO Bryant Riley had offered to buy the bank on Friday, following its warning of a hit from its investment in Vitamin Shoppe-owner Franchise Group (NASDAQ:FRG ).

Source: Investing.com