The week of the Jackson Hole symposium usually offers many things the market can get excited about: hints about where monetary policy may be going, the Fed’s outlook on the economy, and any significant changes to the decision-making process that may have longer-term impacts on rates.
This week, stocks can’t quite muster the courage to bounce, courtesy of mixed headwinds in key data.
The trajectory in the markets has generally been upwards around the time of the summit hosted by the Kansas City Fed. In 2024, the Monday before the Wyoming conference began, the S&P 500 stood at 5,608. A week later and following the conclusion of the event, the index stood at 5,616. In 2023 the story was similar, up 4,399 to 4,433.
This year markets are showing weaker signs. The S&P 500 closed down a touch yesterday by 0.01%, while the Dow Jones was down 0.076%. The Nasdaq was up a minor 0.03%.
In Europe, London’s FTSE is up 0.2% in early trading, the DAX is up 0.16%, and Paris’s CAC 40 is up 0.54%. Over in Asia, the Nikkei 225 is down slightly by 0.38%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is down 0.2%, while India’s Nifty 50 is up 0.3%.
