Fed Signals Potential Rate Cut as Jackson Hole Symposium Kicks Off

U.S. stock index futures saw a slight uptick as the anticipation of a potential Federal Reserve rate cut grew. This sentiment was bolstered by the central bank's recent meeting minutes. Attention now turns to the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, where Fed Chair Powell is expected to provide clarity on monetary policy.

U.S. stock index futures experienced a marginal increase on Thursday, buoyed by optimism regarding the Federal Reserve's potential policy easing next month. Market focus has now shifted to the Federal Reserve's commentary at this week's Jackson Hole Economic Symposium.

The likelihood of an interest rate cut gained traction after the latest minutes from the U.S. central bank's meeting revealed that a 'vast majority' of officials supported such action. These discussions took place prior to disappointing employment figures for July and other economic indicators suggesting cooling inflation and a resilient, yet softening, economy.

Elisabet Kopelman, a U.S. economist at banking group SEB, commented, 'The minutes are backward-looking but confirm the soft signals from Fed Chair Powell after the meeting.' Kopelman added that weak data since July should reinforce such plans, with Powell expected to send a clear signal during his Jackson Hole address.

The Jackson Hole Economic Symposium begins later today, with Powell scheduled to speak on Friday. Current money market predictions indicate a 69.5% probability of at least a 25-basis-point cut in September, supported by CME FedWatch Tool data, and about 100 basis points of easing anticipated by December.

Wall Street's primary indexes saw slight gains in the previous session. The S&P 500 is now less than 1% away from its all-time high in July. Key economic reports, including the weekly U.S. jobless claims and preliminary August business activity data, are due later today.

At 05:10 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis increased by 50 points (0.12%), S&P 500 E-minis rose by 5 points (0.09%), and Nasdaq 100 E-minis went up by 13.25 points (0.06%). Among individual stocks, Snowflake's shares dropped 8.5% in premarket trading despite raising its full-year product revenue projections, attributed to unadjusted margin forecasts. Conversely, Paramount Global gained 3.3% following news of Edgar Bronfman's $6 billion bid for National Amusements and a minority stake in Paramount. Shares of Charles Schwab fell nearly 4% after TD Bank Group's decision to sell part of its stake in the brokerage firm.

(With inputs from agencies.)