US stocks soared on Friday after Fed Chair Powell signaled the possibility of a September rate cut during his Jackson Hole speech, sparking the strongest cross-asset rally since April. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq climbed 1.5% and 1.9%, respectively, while the Dow Jones surged 846 points to a record intraday high. Speaking at the Fed's annual Jackson Hole Symposium, Powell noted that the shifting balance of risks in the economy "may warrant adjusting our policy stance," while cautioning that inflation pressures remain. Traders quickly ramped up bets on a 25 bps rate cut in September to...
Asia-Pacific markets are set for a mixed open on Friday, after Wall Street benchmarks the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 posted their worst day in nearly two months on a downbeat Microsoft earnings forecast and MetaTrader results. Traders await a raft of economic data from the region, including Australia's third-quarter producer price index reading and China's Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers' index for October. Japan's Nikkei 225 appears set for a weaker open, with futures in Chicago at 38,470 and its Osaka counterpart at 38,370 against the index's last close of...