Stocks drifted higher Friday at the market open as investors awaited a key speech from Fed Chair Jay Powell later this morning.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) edged higher by 0.4%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) increased 0.4%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) advanced 0.4%, setting the major averages up for a win after Thursday’s tumble.
Powell is set to speak at 10:05 a.m. ET on Friday, though Fed commentary from the annual Jackson Hole Economic Symposium in Wyoming has already moved markets.
On Thursday, stocks finished lower across the board as the Nasdaq fell nearly 2%, forfeiting gains from an early rally spurred by Nvidia’s (NVDA) strong earnings report.
Fed speakers including Boston Fed president Susan Collins — who spoke to Yahoo Finance’s Jennifer Schonberger in an interview from Jackson Hole — suggested higher interest rates may be needed to tame inflation, which weighed on markets on Thursday.
Last year, stocks sold off sharply during Powell’s speech in Jackson Hole, which said the Fed would continue raising interest rates “until the job is done” bringing down inflation. Since that speech, interest rates have risen an additional 300 basis points with the fed funds rate now at its highest level since 2001.
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