- US stocks were little changed on Wednesday as investors await comments from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.
- Powell is scheduled to speak at the Fed's Jackson Hole summit on Friday, though no interest rate decision will be made.
- Investors have been grappling with mixed inflation signals as the stock market trades sideways.
US stocks were mixed in early Wednesday trades as investors await direction from the Federal Reserve's upcoming Jackson Hole summit.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is set to give a speech this Friday, when he will likely shed some light on what the central bank may do in its upcoming policy meetings. No interest rate decision will be made Friday.
Powell has signaled that going forward, the Fed will be more sensitive to incoming data to determine if inflation is indeed falling and whether more interest rate hikes are appropriate. Market expectations currently call for the Fed to raise interest rates by another 75 basis points at its September meeting, though some think that would be a mistake.
Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. ET open on Wednesday:
- S&P 500: 4,127.14, down 0.04%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 32,892.31, down 0.05% (17.28 points)
- Nasdaq Composite: 12,392.15, up 0.09%
The Fed has already seen some early signs that inflation is cooling down, mostly driven by a consistent decline in commodity prices like oil and some agricultural products. Meanwhile, home prices are cooling off due to soaring mortgage rates.
As investors look for direction on inflation and future interest rate hikes, the stock market has seen volatile, yet sideways trades. At current levels, the S&P 500 is virtually flat since early May.
Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond jumped more than 30% on Wednesday after the Wall Street Journal reported that the retailer secured new financing to help bolster liquidity.
Retail investors in South Korea hold a combined stake of more than $15 billion in Elon Musk's Tesla, according to Bloomberg. Many have gone all-in on the electric carmaker, with one family ploughing their entire $230,000 life savings into Tesla stock, Bloomberg said.
Norway has taken the lead from Russia in supplying natural gas to Europe, Reuters has reported, as Moscow chokes off its deliveries and EU countries work on cutting Russian energy imports.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 0.13% to $93.62 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, fell 0.03% to $100.19.
Bitcoin jumped 0.56% to $21,382. Ether prices rose 1.85% to $1,644.
Gold fell 0.23% to $1,757.20 per ounce. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose 4 basis points to 3.08%.