Stocks Steady Ahead of Yellen Speech at Jackson Hole

Global stocks were little changed Friday, while the dollar edged lower, as investors remained cautious ahead of a speech from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen at the annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo.

The Stoxx Europe 600 was up 0.1% in early trade, while futures markets pointed to a small opening gain on Wall Street. The ICE U.S. Dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, was down 0.2% recently.

Stock markets have drifted this week amid a light calendar of economic and business data releases. Loose U.S. monetary policy has been the main driving force in financial markets in recent times, keeping the dollar weak and supporting stocks and bonds. Investors will be keeping a close eye on Ms. Yellen's speech later Friday for any clues on the path of interest rates or her thoughts on the health of the U.S. economy.

Asian stocks were mixed Friday. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.2%, weighed down by a stronger yen after data showed a fifth straight monthly fall in Japanese consumer prices. The dollar fell 0.1% against the yen to ¥ 100.5200 recently, hurting Japanese exporters. Elsewhere, shares in China and Hong Kong inched higher, while Australia's S&P ASX 200 was down 0.5%.

Write to Christopher Whittall at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 26, 2016 04:25 ET (08:25 GMT)

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