S&P, Nasdaq inch up on hopes of Sept rate cut; Jackson Hole in focus

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rose in volatile trading on Thursday, as investors were more hopeful the Federal Reserve would kick off its interest rate cut cycle next month while awaiting policymakers' commentary at Jackson Hole this week.

Expectations of a rate cut got a boost after minutes from the U.S. central bank's latest meeting showed on Wednesday a "vast majority" of officials said such an action was likely.

Dovish remarks from policymakers including Kansas City Fed President Jeff Schmid, Boston Fed President Susan Collins and Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick Harker were also supporting the upbeat sentiment.

Money markets currently see a nearly 74 per cent chance of an at least 25-basis-point (bps) cut in September, as per the CME FedWatch Tool, and about 100 bps of easing by December, according to LSEG data.

Market participants are now focused on the Economic Symposium in Jackson Hole that will kick off on Thursday, with Fed chair Jerome Powell slated to deliver his remarks on the second day of the event.

Wall Street's main indexes closed higher in the previous session, with the S&P 500 (.SPX),  notching its ninth session of gains out of 10, after data showed U.S. employers added far fewer jobs for the year ended March 2024 than originally estimated.

The labour market came under increased scrutiny following an unexpected rise in unemployment in July that sparked a selloff earlier this month. Risk sentiment has since then improved following other reports hinting at a still resilient economy.

"The labour market is cooling off, but the real question is, to what extent? We should (wait) for the unemployment numbers for August and then see if the Fed is going to respond in a more forceful way," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities.

Latest data showed the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits rose in the latest week, but the level still suggested easing labour market conditions.

Another survey showed business activity fell to a 4-month low in August and firms continued to struggle to pass on higher prices to consumers.

At 09:50 a.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI),  fell 19.42 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 40,870.11, the S&P 500 (.SPX),  gained 8.91 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 5,629.60 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC),  gained 41.94 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 17,961.09.

Most of the S&P 500's 11 sectors moved higher, led by a 0.5 per cent rise in rate-sensitive technology stocks (.SPLRCT),.

Among individual stocks, data cloud analytics firm Snowflake (SNOW.N),  raised its forecast for full-year product revenue. Still, Snowflake's shares were down 11 per cent, with analysts attributing the drop to the company not pairing the climb in revenue projections with a rise in margin forecast.

Zoom Video Communications (ZM.O),  added 8.3 per cent after raising its annual revenue,  forecast, while Advanced Auto Parts (AAP.N),  slid 18 per cent after trimming its annual profit forecast.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.16-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.21-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 35 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 45 new highs and 21 new lows.