Wall Street slips ahead of Jackson Hole summit, US retailers' earnings

Wall Street's main indexes were down on Monday, as investors awaited a raft of corporate earnings reports from major retailers for more signs about the state of the economy and the Federal Reserve's annual symposium in Jackson Hole.

 

Investors will closely monitor reports from Walmart, Home Depot and Target, among others expected this week, to determine how trade uncertainty and inflation expectations have affected US consumers. 

"Today is a day more of listlessness in the markets, where we're just waiting to see what happens from the big retailers and then the main event on Friday with (Fed Chair Jerome) Powell," said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management. 

 

Data on Friday showed that while retail sales were increasing broadly as anticipated, consumer sentiment overall had taken a hit from mounting inflation fears. On Monday, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index fell to the lowest reading since December 2022. 

Wall Street's main indexes rallied over the past two weeks, with the blue-chip Dow hitting an intraday record high on Friday, aided by interest rate cut expectations and a better-than-expected earnings season despite an uncertain trade environment. 

On the geopolitical front, US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met to discuss the future of the war in Ukraine, days after Trump's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin which yielded no concrete outcome. Trump said he would call Putin and that it was possible the three leaders could hold a meeting. 

At 1:56 p.m. EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 47.13 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 44,898.43, the S&P 500 lost 6.42 points, or 0.10 per cent, to 6,443.38 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 30.45 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 21,592.52. 

Seven of the 11 S&P 500 sectors edged lower, with communication services in the lead with a 0.9 per cent fall, weighed by Facebook parent Meta's 2.45 per cent slide. 

Investors continue to price in a 25-basis-point cut from the Federal Reserve next month, although they have lowered their expectations for another rate cut this year, according to data compiled by LSEG. 

Recent data has also suggested that while US tariffs have not filtered in to headline consumer prices yet, weakness in the jobs market could nudge the central bank to take a more dovish stance. 

Markets hope that the Fed's Jackson Hole, Wyoming, conference between August 21 and 23, where Powell is expected to speak, could offer more clarity on the economic outlook and the central bank's policy framework. 

Intel shares fell 3.16 per cent after a Bloomberg report said the Trump administration is in talks to take a 10 per cent stake in the chipmaker.

Dayforce jumped 27 per cent after a report said private equity firm Thoma Bravo was in talks to acquire the human resources management software firm. 

Solar stocks such as SunRun rose 9 per cent and First Solar gained 9.54 per cent after the US Treasury Department unveiled new federal tax subsidy rules for solar and wind projects. 

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.09-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 133 new highs and 28 new lows on the NYSE. 

The S&P 500 posted nine new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 73 new highs and 62 new lows.