Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Friday, August 25:
1. Yellen may try to push up market odds for additional rate hike
Markets looked ahead Friday to a speech from Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium in Wyoming to see if the U.S. central bank chief will offer further clues as to the outlook for monetary policy.
According to the Fed, Yellen will give a speech on “Financial Stability” at 10:00AM ET (14:00GMT).
Though expectations for anything “dramatic” are practically nil, some experts suggest that she could attempt to convince skeptical markets that the Fed will indeed follow through on one more rate hike this year.
Ahead of Yellen’s remarks, Fed fund futures price in the possibility at only around 45%, according to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool, and, in fact, the odds for another 25 basis point increase do not pass the 50% threshold until March 2018.
2. Draghi expected to be non-event, remarks on euro watched
European Central Bank president Mario Draghi will also be in the limelight at Jackson Hole with a speech scheduled at 3:00PM ET (1900GMT) Friday.
While market expectations had been previously high that Draghi would use his address to signal ECB tapering in the autumn, reports last week suggest he will not be making major policy announcements.
Still, market players will keep a close eye on Draghi’s remarks on the euro to measure the hawkishness/dovishness of the central bank chief.
The single currency was trading flat against the dollar as investors wait for remarks from Draghi and U.S. counterpart Janet Yellen.
3. FX, gold in wait-and-see mode ahead of Yellen, durable goods
Currency markets were on pause ahead of appearances from the heads of the U.S. and European central banks.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, slipped 0.05% at 93.18 by 5:57AM ET (9:57GMT).
Apart from Yellen, investors will also digest durable goods orders for July at 8:30AM ET (12:30GMT), as they look for indications on the strength of the U.S. economy at the start of the third quarter.
Ahead of these references, gold also showed cautious trade. Gold for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange edged forward just $1.32 cents, or 0.1%, to trade at $1,293.32 by 5:57AM ET (9:57GMT).
4. Oil higher as Hurricane Harvey threatens Texas
Oil prices rose on Friday as meteorologists forecast that Hurricane Harvey could become a category 3 “major hurricane” when it hits Texas either late Friday or early Saturday.
Harvey has rapidly intensified since Thursday, spinning into potentially the biggest hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland in 12 years.
Prices rose as production in the affected area, responsible for 45% of the nation’s refining capacity and 17% of U.S. output, shut down in preparation for the hurricane, and on expectations that closures could last if the storm causes extensive damage
U.S. crude oil futures rose 0.72% to $47.77 at 5:56AM ET (10:56GMT), while Brent oil traded up 0.71% to $52.41.
Investors also looked ahead to the latest gauge on U.S. shale production when Baker Hughes releases its most recent weekly rig count data later on Friday.
5. Global equities in the black, cautious ahead of Jackson Hole
U.S. futures pointed to a flat to higher open as investors kept gains in check ahead of key speeches at Jackson Hole. At 5:59AM ET (9:59GMT) Friday, the blue-chip Dow futures inched up 25 points, or 0.11%, S&P 500 futures rose 5 points, or 0.19% while the Nasdaq 100 futures traded up 16 points, or 0.27%.
Elsewhere, European shares were also cautious while awaiting Draghi’s appearance, although sentiment was generally positive across the major bourses, with indices slightly extending gains in midday trade At 6:02AM ET (10:02GMT), the benchmark Euro Stoxx 50 gained 0.26%, improving from an earlier flat performance after a minor sell-off at the open.
Earlier, Asian equities showed themselves to be the most resilient ahead of appearances by central bankers. The Shanghai Composite closed up 1.8%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 pocketed gains of 0.5%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was an outlier following the generally cautious trend in Western markets as it closed off just 0.03%.