The S&P 500 opened with minor changes before Paul Jackson Hole’s speech

The S&P 500 didn’t change much on Friday ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

The broader market index is down 0.03%, and the Nasdaq Composite is down 0.08%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 70 points, or 0.21%.

With that said, all the major averages are in full swing for the second consecutive bearish week. The Dow is on track to fall 1.2%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are heading for slightly smaller declines of 0.8% and 0.8%, respectively.

All eyes are on Powell’s widely expected speech at 10am ET at the Wyoming Central Bank’s annual symposium. Traders digested one of the Fed’s favorite inflation metrics, the personal consumption expenditures data, which was released on Friday Show price increases declined in July.

Investors Hoping for new instructions on how the Fed will act this fall, But expectations are lowerMany expect Powell to repeat the Fed’s pledge to slow inflation by raising interest rates. Opinions are divided on whether the Fed will raise interest rates by half a percentage point or three-quarters of a point at its next policy meeting in September.

“Recent US economic data has been encouraging, improving the likelihood of the Federal Reserve making a soft landing. But we believe markets may have outpaced themselves in pricing in this scenario,” Mark Heffel, chief investment officer for global wealth management at UBS, wrote in a Friday note. .

Telecom services, real estate, and energy underperformed in the S&P 500. Meanwhile, financial and utilities outperformed the broader market index.

Confirmed shares fell 12% After the consumer lender issued a weak revenue guidance for the full year.