Global Consumer Confidence Posted Shy Rebonds as Investors Prepared for Final Day of Wyoming Summit

U.S. equities rose for a second straight session ahead of today’s much-anticipated speech from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell at the central bankers’ summit in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. His today’s performance is expected to convey the central bank's resolve to push inflation down closer to its 2% goal, even at the risk of raising the unemployment rate, currently at 3.5%, a 50-year low. To provide some context, two years ago at the very same Wyoming event of monetary policy wonks, Powell introduced the central bank's new inflation averaging policy that would tolerate inflation running above its 2% goal for some time in order to push the unemployment rate lower. That was when inflation had been stubbornly lagging the Fed's goal for years.

A late-day runup sent the Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq up about 1% or more after the U.S. Commerce Department reported Q2 GDP fell less than previously anticipated.

Shares of cruise line operators helped drive market gains yesterday for a second consecutive session, as a pullback on Covid-19 rules for passengers raised optimism about the industry outlook. Shares of other travel-related companies, including airlines, hotels, and booking sites, were lifted higher as well.

AMD (AMD), Intel (INTC), ON Semiconductors (ON) and rival chip companies all advanced. NetApp (NTAP) was the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 as the data storage provider reported earnings and sales that beat estimates and raised its forecast. Boeing (BA) led the Dow higher after the aircraft manufacturer announced the first flight of its Starliner spacecraft, with astronauts onboard, is scheduled for February.

In contrast, Dollar Tree (DLTR) was the worst-performing stock in the S&P 500 after the discount retailer cut its full-year guidance due to the impact of inflation and price changes. Dollar Tree now expects 2022 earnings per share (EPS) in a range of $7.10 to $7.40, down from its previous estimate of $7.80 to $8.20. It also narrowed its sales guidance from a range of $27.76 billion to $28.14 billion to a range of $27.85 billion to $28.10 billion.

Elsewhere, European markets were lower today. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.27%, At the time of writing, the British FTSE 100 rose 0.18% while the French CAC 40 Index fell 0.2%, and German DAX fell 0.14%. Loans to households in the Eurozone rose by 4.5% YoY in July. The consumer confidence index in France also rose, to 82 in August from 80 in July, although GfK Consumer Climate Indicator for Germany declined to a fresh record low level of -36.5 heading into September.

Earlier this morning Asian markets traded mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.57%, China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.31%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced by 1.01%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 creeped up 0.8%, while India’s S&P BSE Sensex slipped 0.1%.