US Futures Open Lower as September Rate Hike Still on Table

U.S. stock index futures were lower on Monday as investors once again turned their focus to the possibility of a September interest rate increase.

Weekend comments from Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer appeared to keep the door open for a rate hike next month.

U.S. inflation will likely rebound as pressure from the dollar fades, allowing the Fed to raise interest rates gradually, Fischer told CNBC at the global central banking conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Fischer’s comments suggest the Fed could look beyond a week of stock market turmoil brought on by fears that China’s economy is faltering.

Wall Street closed flat on Friday after a tumultuous week that featured both the market’s worst day in four years and biggest two-day gain since the financial crisis.

Chinese shares had another volatile session on Monday. The Shanghai Composite .SSEC lost 0.8 percent, while the blue-chip CSI300 index .CSI300 ended up 0.7 percent. Both were down more than 4 percent at one point.

The two indexes lost about 12 percent for the month, and nearly 40 percent since mid-June despite repeated and unprecedented measures by the government to shore up the market.

via Reuters

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.