19/08/24 Briefing

Stocks on Wall Street opened slightly lower on Tuesday after notching their longest rally this year, amid optimism that Jerome Powell will signal the Federal Reserve is open to a deeper cut when it starts lowering interest rates.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) hugged the flatline, coming off an eight-strong run of daily wins for the benchmark index — its longest since November. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) also traded flat, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) dropped about 0.1%.

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Markets are marking time as anticipation builds for Fed Chair Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole get-together for central bankers at the end of the week. Stocks have made a strong comeback from an early August rout as fresh economic data bolstered the case for the central bank to start lowering rates sooner — and maybe further — than previously thought.