MARKET WRAP: FTSE falls ahead of Powell, USD higher, oil lower after weekly gains By Investing.com

Key Points

• FTSE 100 closing price of 7,126, -0.33%
• Hays higher after strong H2
• USD stronger following GDP, Fed comments
• Crude oil falls after weekly bounce
• Bitcoin falls back below $47,000

By Samuel Indyk

Investing.com – The FTSE 100 finished the trading day in the red ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium.

In individual stocks news, Hays (LON:HAYS) shares were trading higher following a trading update. The recruitment company reinstated dividend payments following a strong second half of the financial year.

“Overall, the strength of the recovery has been dramatic,” said Hays CEO Alistair Cox.

Jackson Hole

Kansas City Fed President Esther George was the first speaker from the Symposium to talk about the Fed’s mammoth bond buying programme.

“I would be ready to talk about taper sooner rather than later,” George said in comments to CNBC’s Steve Liesman.

George cited the recent job gains and current level of inflation as reasons to begin weaning the economy off asset purchases.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan said he favours the Fed announcing tapering at the September meeting and would like to see it occur gradually, over plus or minus eight months.

The comments were less dovish than those made on Friday, where Kaplan said he may need to adjust his view on the economy if the Delta variant were to slow growth materially.

The US Dollar was stronger in the wake of the comments but ranges were again relatively narrow as traders wait for Friday’s speech from Fed Chair Powell.

WTI and Brent crude futures both traded lower amid the stronger USD and following the relatively hawkish Fed comments.

Natural Gas surged following the weekly storage change data from the Energy Information Administration. A smaller than expected rise in storage of 29bcf versus consensus 40bcf, pushed nat gas back above $4.00 for the first time since 12th August.

Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies continued to pull back from the recent highs amid a technical break lower. Bitcoin is now testing key support at $46,800-$47,000 which if it breaks could open the door to the 200-day moving average near $46,000.

Subscribe to Investing.com UK here