Jackson Lake Lodge Hosts Feds

Jackson Hole Summit: Focus of World Markets

Jackson Hole summit is where the Fed’s Bernanke will deliver a highly anticipated speech August 26th. World markets pushed stocks up, gold down in anticipation that the central banker will announce possible moves at the Jackson Hole summit.

By Natsuko Waki, Reuters / August 25, 2011

LONDON

Fed chief Ben Bernanke is due to address central bankers at an annual symposium inJackson Hole,Wyoming, on Friday. His speech last year laid the groundwork for the Fed’s $600 billion bond-buying programme to revive a sputtering U.S. economy.

While many doubt Bernanke will immediately commit to conducting a third round of quantitative easing at the Jackson Hole summit, investors generally expect him to stress that the central bank stands ready to act if necessary.

“Everyone is waiting to see what comes of the Wyoming meeting. I would be uncomfortable being aggressively short going into the weekend. And corporate results don’t look too bad,” said Andy Lynch fund manager at Schroders.

-The MSCI equity index rose 0.3 percent. The benchmark index is on track to post its first weekly gain in five weeks, having hit an 11-month low earlier this month.

-European stocks added 0.4 percent while emerging stocks were steady on the day.

– French bank Credit Agricole and Austria’s Ralffelsen Bank both rose after reporting better-than-expected quarterly earnings, and the STOXX Europe 600 banking index was up 2.1 percent.

-U.S. stock futures were up 0.1 percent , pointing to a slightly firmer open on Wall Street.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

four × 3 =