Caution lingered across markets ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech with traders paring wagers on an imminent interest-rate cut.
A gauge of the dollar held its gains from the prior session, spurred by upbeat US manufacturing data and hawkish comments from the Fed officials.
Asian shares fluctuated between small gains and losses while futures for European and US stocks were little changed. Chinese shares stood out with a 1.2% jump, with technology among the best performers.
Gold fell 0.3%.Nvidia Corp.’s shares slid about 1.9% on alternative trading system Blue Ocean after a report said the company instructed component suppliers to stop production related to the H20 AI chip.
That helped lift chip stocks in China and Hong Kong.The S&P 500 fell for a fifth straight day as stronger US economic data and a more hawkish tone from Fed officials pushed money markets to price a 70% chance of a September rate cut, down from 90% a week ago.
Focus now shifts to the Fed’s annual Jackson Hole symposium, where Powell speaks Friday at 10 a.m. New York time for clues on the policy outlook.
