Stocks Mixed As Jackson Hole Symposium Begins

Treasury Yields Continue To Move Higher

S&P 500 futures are swinging between gains and losses in premarket trading as traders wait for comments from Jackson Hole Symposium.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell will speak on Friday, and markets may remain in a waiting mode until his speech.

Meanwhile, Treasury yields continue to move higher as bond traders sell U.S. government bonds ahead of Powell’s speech. The yield of 10-year Treasuries has recently managed to get above the 50 EMA at 1.3370% and is moving towards the recent highs near 1.38%.

At this point, higher yields failed to put any pressure on stocks as the market’s mood remains bullish, but continuation of the current trend in the bond market may present some problems for riskier stocks.

Initial Jobless Claims Increased To 353,000

U.S. has just released Initial Jobless Claims and Continuing Jobless Claims reports. Initial Jobless Claims report indicated that 353,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits in a week compared to analyst consensus of $350,000. Continuing Jobless Claims declined from 2.87 million (revised from 2.82 million) to 2.86 million compared to analyst consensus of 2.79 million.

Traders also had a chance to take a look at the second estimate of GDP Growth Rate report for the second quarter. The report indicated that GDP increased by 6.6% quarter-over-quarter compared to analyst consensus of 6.7%.

It should be noted that these reports had no impact on S&P 500 futures as traders remained focused on Jackson Hole Symposium.

WTI Oil Pulls Back On Profit-Taking

Yesterday, EIA released its Weekly Petroleum Status Report which indicated that crude inventories declined by 3 million barrels compared to analyst consensus which called for a decline of 2.7 million barrels. The report also showed that domestic oil production remained unchanged at 11.4 million barrels per day (bpd).

The report was bullish, but WTI oil lost momentum and declined below the $68 level as traders took profits after the recent rally. Today, oil-related stocks will likely pull back at the start of the trading session as stock traders would also prefer to take some profits off the table.

For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.