By Liz Moyer
Investing.com -- U.S. stocks were rising early Tuesday as investors await a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later this week.
At 09:50 ET (13:50 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 16 points or flat, while the S&P 500 was up 0.2%, and the NASDAQ Composite was up 0.5%.
Stocks had their worst day on Monday in months, reflecting investor anxiety about what the Fed’s next move might be. It has been raising interest rates to tame inflation, and there is debate on how aggressive it will be at its September meeting.
Powell is scheduled to speak at the Fed’s annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo., this weekend. The recent speculation has been whether the Fed will lift next rates again by 0.75 percentage points, as it has at its last two meetings, or whether it will slow to 0.5 percentage points. Powell isn’t likely to say definitively either way in his speech, but investors will be reading between the lines for clues.
The latest reading on purchasing managers activity this morning is another look at the direction of the economy – both manufacturing and services came in below expectations – after weak readings from Europe that fed concern about a recession in the bloc.
It’s also another week of earnings reports from retailers and tech companies. Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) shares rose 11% after it beat expectations and announced a stock split 3 for 1. Zoom Video Communications (NASDAQ:ZM), the pandemic darling stock, fell 11% after it cut its outlook.
Oil jumped. Crude Oil WTI Futures was up 3.2% to $93.22 a barrel, while Brent Oil Futures was up 2.5% to $98.93 a barrel. Gold Futures rose 0.6% to $1,759.