He will be speaking in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, at an annual conference of central bankers that’s been home to big policy announcements in the past.
A cut in interest rates would be the first of the year, and it would give investment prices and the economy a boost by making it cheaper to borrow to buy cars or equipment. But it could also risk worsening inflation, which could drive up long-term bond yields, and in turn, mortgage rates.
The Fed has been hesitant to cut interest rates this year out of fear that President Donald Trump’s tariffs could push inflation higher, but a surprisingly weak report on job growth across the country earlier this month suddenly made the job market a bigger worry. Trump, meanwhile, has angrily pushed for cuts to interest rates, often insulting Powell while doing so.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which lenders use as a benchmark for pricing home loans, rose to 4.33 per cent from 4.29 per cent. The two-year Treasury, which moves more on expectations for what the Federal Reserve will do with short-term interest rates, climbed to 3.79 per cent from 3.74 per cent.
On Wall Street, Walmart dropped even though it reported encouraging growth in revenue during the latest quarter and raised its forecast for profit over its full fiscal year.
Analysts said the market’s expectations were high coming into the report. The Bentonville, Arkansas, company’s stock came into the day with a gain of 13.5 per cent for the year so far, well above the rest of the market.
Big Tech stocks are under even more pressure to deliver bigger profits amid criticism that their stock prices ran too high, too fast and have become too expensive because of the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology.
Loading
Several AI superstar stocks have swung sharply this week, taking some shine off their skyscraping surges for the year, because of such criticism. But they held a bit steadier on Thursday.
Palantir Technologies, which at one point on Wednesday was on track to fall more than 9 per cent for a second straight day before paring its loss, rose 0.4 per cent. Nvidia, the chip company that’s become the poster child of the AI boom, slipped 0.4 per cent.
Coty tumbled 21.6 per cent after the beauty products company reported a loss for the latest quarter, when analysts expected a slight profit. The company, whose brands include CoverGirl and Joop!, said uncertainty about tariffs and the economy are making retailers cautious in their orders.
On the winning side of Wall Street was Nordson, which makes products and systems used for precision dispensing and other things. It delivered profit and revenue for the latest quarter that topped analysts’ expectations, and its stock rose 3.8 per cent.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across much of Europe and Asia.
Germany, Europe’s largest economy, saw its DAX return 0.1 per cent after US and European Union officials offered a framework for their trade deal.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.6 per cent after a survey showed Japan’s factory activity contracted again in August.
