Stocks Grow Despite Summit Suspense

Equities in Canada’s largest centre were found some traction by noon EDT Thursday, as investors awaited news from the U.S. Federal Reserve's three-day Jackson Hole symposium that could offer more clarity on monetary policy in the world's biggest economy. The TSX Composite Index gained 70.66 points to move into Thursday afternoon at 27,949.42. The Canadian dollar backpedaled 0.15 cents to 71.92 cents U.S. The annual Fed conference begins Thursday and will host central bankers from around the world; investors will watch Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech on Friday for clues to upcoming monetary policy moves. In macroeconomic news, Statistics Canada said its Industrial Product Price Index rose 0.7% month over month in July and increased 2.6% year over year. Its Raw Materials Price Index increased 0.3% month over month in July and grew 0.8% year over year. ON BAYSTREET The TSX Venture Exchange jumped 8.17 points, or 1.1%, to 775.78. The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly divided by midday, with gold brighter by 2%, materials up 1.6%, and energy rumbling 0.5%. The half-dozen laggards were led by telecoms, information technology and real-estate, each down 0.1%. ON WALLSTREET Stocks fell broadly on Thursday, with the S&P 500 sliding for a fifth day in a row, while Walmart pulls back following its latest quarterly release. The Dow Jones Industrials retreated 65.31 points to begin Thursday at 44,873. The broader index sank 9.59 points to 6,386.19. The NASDAQ lost 16.57 points to 21,156.28. The S&P 500 is down 0.8% this week, while the NASDAQ has lost about 2.1%. The 30-stock Dow is roughly flat week to date. Walmart shares dipped more than 4% after the retailer beat Wall Street’s quarterly sales estimates but missed earnings expectations, the first time it missed on quarterly earnings since May 2022. this week has been pressured by heavy bout of tech selling. Investors took in profits from high-flying names including Nvidia, Palantir and Meta. Investors are looking to hear from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday at the central bank’s annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo., where he could offer insights into the path of interest rates. Fed funds futures are pricing in a nearly 80% likelihood of the central bank cutting interest rates at its next policy gathering in September. Minutes from Fed’s July meeting showed policymakers are worried about the state of the labor market and inflation, though most agreed that it was too soon to lower interest rates. Fed governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman dissented against holding rates steady, marking the first time two board members have done so since 1993. Prices for 10-year Treasury fell Thursday, hiking yields to 4.34% from Wednesday’s 4.29%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions. Oil prices gained 32 cents to $63.03 U.S. a barrel. Gold prices dropped $2.30 at $3,385.20 U.S. an ounce.