Analyst: Wash’s remarks primarily impact long-term Treasury yields

U.S. stock index futures showed no clear direction in Friday's early trading session. Investors are awaiting highly anticipated remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Walsh, while tech stock investors are taking profits after Nvidia (NVDA.O) led the sector higher the previous day. Societe Generale analyst Rajapa said: "The core PCE data released this week sends a very clear message that inflation is actually more resilient than we expected." "If we look at this year's data as a whole, we must consider taking some policy action as soon as possible." Historically, speeches by Federal Reserve Chairs at the Jackson Hole Symposium have not been major catalysts for sharp stock market swings. Since 2000, without accompanying larger monetary policy shifts, the S&P 500 has posted an average weekly change of just 0.4% in the week following the Jackson Hole meeting. Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Management, expects Walsh will not provide forward-looking policy guidance on Friday, but long-term yields may move. He wrote in a report: "Whatever he says about the policy framework and the economy—especially his views on inflation, unemployment and the neutral rate—could drive changes in long-dated yields."