Top 5 Things to Know in the Market on Thursday

Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Thursday, August 22:

1. U.S. futures turn negative on China tariff remarks

U.S. futures turned negative on Thursday after China warned again that it would retaliate to any further tariffs from Washington.

Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng said the imposition of new tariffs would force Beijing to “adopt retaliatory actions”, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent decision to delay some tariffs until Dec. 15.

When asked if China’s top trade negotiator Vice Premier Liu He would travel to Washington for further face-to-face talks, Gao said simply that trade teams from both sides have been keeping in touch.

2. Jackson Hole Kicks Off Amid Divided Fed

The annual Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium kicks off Thursday at Jackson Hole under the title “Challenges for Monetary Policy”.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who speaks on Friday, will be the main event at the three-day gathering, after repeating chastisements from President Trump about the level of U.S. interest rates. Markets price in another 25 basis point cut at the September meeting, but the greater uncertainty remains over the rate path thereafter.

Minutes released Wednesday from the last Fed meeting in July showed that policymakers were split three ways over the decision to cut rates by 25 basis points with two voting against the move and “a couple” that would have preferred a larger 50 basis point cut.

3. ECB minutes on tap

The European Central Bank is set to release the minutes of its previous policy meeting at 7:30 AM ET (11:30 GMT).

That meeting saw policy remain unchanged, but a weakening economic outlook led the ECB to adjust its forward guidance to indicate that rates could go lower and indicate that it could revive its quantitative easing program in the coming months.

IHS Markit's preliminarycomposite purchasing managers’ index data for the euro zone showed that growth in the region remains muted. The reading, although better than expected, was still one of the weakest seen in the survey for the last six years as exports declined for an 11th straight month.

4. U.S. Jobless Claims, Manufacturing, Services Data Due

The Labor Department will publish its weekly count of the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the week ended Aug. 18 at 8:30 AM ET (12:30 GMT) with the data expected to once again confirm the solid strength of the U.S. labor market.

IHS Markit will release its preliminary purchasing managers' index readings for May. The manufacturing PMI is expected to tick a notch higher to 50.5, remaining just a short way from the 50 point mark that divides expansion from contraction.

5. Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) shares soar 11% after earnings

Shares in Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) soared more than 11% in premarket trade after the department store chain produced better-than-expected quarterly profit despite a drop in sales.

BJs Wholesale (NYSE:BJ), Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS) and Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) are among company’s scheduled to report earnings ahead of the open, while Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM), Gap (NYSE:GPS), Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST), and VMware (NYSE:VMW) will release after the market close.

Read more: Salesforce.com: Trade War, Large Deals May Hurt Q2 Earnings - Haris Anwar

-- Reuters contributed to this report.

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