S&P 500 Futures, US Treasury yields wobble ahead of Fed Chair Powell’s showdown

• S&P 500 Futures, US 10-year Treasury yields remain indecisive after a negative day.
• Fedspeak renewed taper tantrum, Biden dislikes ISIS but markets care for Powell’s Jackson Hole Symposium speech.

Global markets turn sluggish, following a pessimistic day, during early Friday. While portraying that mood, S&P 500 Futures print mild losses, tracking the Wall Street benchmarks, whereas the US 10-year Treasury yields remain pressured around 1.34% at the latest.

The receding inflation expectations joined recently downbeat US data to push back the odds of the Fed’s tapering. However, the latest Fedspeak has been hawkish and weighed on the risk appetite the previous day.

Among the Fed hawks was Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan who said, “Fed's asset purchases had their purpose and their time but not longer well-suited to the situation.” James Bullard and Ester George were the rest of the non-voting Fed members who followed Kaplan and firmed up concerns over tapering.

It’s worth mentioning that the virus woes and geopolitics challenge the market’s sentiment, underpinning the US dollar’s safe-haven demand.

Blast at Kabul airport and reports of two or three US officials being hurt raised worries of the US response to the Taliban. Elsewhere, the likely meet between the US and Chinese equity officials joins Beijing’s dislike for American pressure and meddling into the internal matters to highlight the geopolitical fears. Additionally, faster spread of the coronavirus and chatters over six-month immunity of vaccines, as well as the need for a third jab, also add to the risk-off mood.

Above all, a light calendar in Asia and cautious mood ahead of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole Symposium speech bore the traders of late.

Although the US Core PCE Price Index for July will join the risk catalysts to entertain market players moving on, major attention will be on how Powell defends the Fed’s easy money policies.

Read: Fed Chair Powell’s Jackson Hole Speech: Caution will win out