Dow, S&P 500 Close Lower As September Rate-hike Prospect Rattles Bulls

Oil closed higher after swinging between gains and losses as investors parse a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen for signs of when the central bank will raise interest rates.

Today finds the us dollar to pound spot exchange rate priced at 0.757.

US stocks closed lower in choppy trading and the USA dollar surged on Friday as investors grappled with the possible timing of an interest rate hike after comments from several Federal Reserve officials, including Chair Janet Yellen.

Will she be happy to see the year 2016 goes by without a single rate hike?

In a mid-day interview on CNBC after Yellen spoke, the Fed’s No. 2 policymaker, Vice Chair Stanley Fischer, suggested that rate hikes were on track for this year.

The second estimate of second-quarter GDP headlines the economic-data calendar.

The October crude contract rose 31 cents to US$47.64 per barrel.

Ending two months of public silence about her views, Yellen cited “continued solid performance of the labor market” in her speech Friday to central bankers and economists in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Gold prices climbed above $1,340 per ounce on Friday afternoon in London after the dollar softened on the lack on the lack of a clear signal from Fed chair Janet Yellen about whether the United States central bank will raise rates in September. “In the global wide search for yield, US stocks are still attractive”, said Cavanaugh. In corporate news, Herbalife Ltd. ended the session down 2.3% lower on a report from The Wall Street Journal that Carl Icahn attempted to sell a large stake in the nutritional supplement company to parties including shortseller Bill Ackman.

Software company (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/splunk-beats-expectations-and-raises-forecast-but-stock-still- slumps-2016-08-25) Splunk Inc.(SPLK) finished down 10%, beauty products seller (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ulta- shares-weaken-as-outlook-offsets-earnings-beat-2016-08-25) Ulta Salon Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc.(ULTA) dropped 6.1%, and videogame retailer (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gamestop-shares-slide-after-revenue-falls-short-of-street-view- 2016-08-25) GameStop Corp.(GME) closed down almost 11% after each company’s stock suffered an earnings-driven drop late Thursday. The greenback climbed 1.1 percent to $1.1198 per euro and strengthened 1.6 percent to 101.84 yen.

Yellen did not lay out a clear roadmap for what the Fed needs to see to raise rates.

Brent crude futures pared some gains in post-settlement trading LCOc1 , last up about 0.2 percent, or 11 cents, at $49.78. German business confidence also declined with the IFO business climate index falling to its lowest level in 6 months.

European stocks closed higher with a late boost from Ms Yellen’s remarks.

That was enough to turn stocks lower, with the S&P 500 finishing the day down 3.43 points at 2,169.04, logging a weekly drop of 0.7%.