Fed hosts meeting of banking leaders
Investors are listening for clues about interest rates
World banking leaders will gather in Jackson Hole, Wyoming starting Thursday night for an annual meeting hosted by the Federal Reserve.
Janet Yellen and some members of the Federal Open Market Committee, which sets monetary policy, will not be attending. Still, there will be enough “intellectual firepower” there, says Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Marcoeconomics, to make the event an important one for Wall Street.
Investors will be listening for hints that could help them figure out whether the Fed is still likely to raise short-term interest rates in September, or whether it will wait until later in the year.
“I think the key is to look to see what happens in the next four employment reports,” says Patrick Newport at IHS Global Insights, who thinks any delay will be a short one.