The S&P 500 fell for a fifth day, as Wall Street trimmed bets on a September rate cut ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole on Friday.
The market benchmark dropped 0.4%; the S&P marked its longest losing streak since it fell the five days ending Jan. 2. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3%, which brought its losing streak to three days, the longest it has fallen since the four days ending April 21.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 153 points, or 0.3%. The blue-chip index had gone five sessions in a row without a move of more than 0.1%, but the tech stock selloff expanded to the broader market during Thursday’s session.
Walmart’s earnings report disappointed Wall Street, and executives pointed to tariffs raising prices as it replaces inventory from before the levies rolled out. S&P Global’s surveys of the services and manufacturing sectors also pointed to tariffs beginning their flow to consumers.
Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack told Yahoo! Finance, based on the data currently out, that she didn’t see a case for a September cut. Odds of such a move dropped to 73.6% from 82.4% on Wednesday and 92.1% a week ago, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
All that sets the stage for Powell’s speech tomorrow at 10 a.m. ET. Whether Powell rolls out the red carpet for a September cut or maintains his “data-dependent” approach will likely determine where markets go next.
