Aug 22 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set to open higher on Friday following a recent string of losses as investors awaited Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium for insights into the interest-rate path.
At the Wyoming research conference last year, Powell had promised to lower rates and support the job market when the unemployment rate started to rise, while in 2022, he underscored the central bank's inflation-fighting rigor.
Powell's address, expected at 10 a.m. ET, could prove pivotal in shaping the rate-cut expectations for September.
Michael Matousek, head trader at U.S. Global Investors, said Powell was going to "take the cautious approach".
"The tariffs are really starting to kick in, so he's still going to put some caution out there and state that he wants to look at data, see how things happen, because you didn't have the tariff effect kick in until early in the summer," Matousek said.
Markets had initially ramped up the bets following a weak payrolls report at the start of August and after consumer price data showed limited upward pressure from tariffs.
Traders now see a 69.5% chance of a 25-basis-point rate cut next month, down from an 85.4% chance a week ago, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
Other Fed officials speaking on Thursday appeared to be less keen on the idea of a rate reduction next month.
Earnings reports from big-box retailers including Walmart(WMT.N), earlier this week offered a mixed picture as investors sought fresh signals on the broader health of the American consumer amid ongoing tariff pressures.
Against this backdrop, all three main U.S. stock indexes are set for weekly losses, with the S&P 500 (.SPX), and the Nasdaq (.IXIC), on pace for their worst weekly showing of the month.
The S&P 500 took its string of losses to a fifth straight day on Thursday. A broad-based selloff in heavyweight technology stocks has kept U.S. equities pressured this week.
Information technology (.SPLRCT), was the week's worst hit sub-sector, while energy (.SPNY), and real estate (.SPLRCR), were on track for mild weekly gains.
Meanwhile, UBS Global Wealth Management lifted its year-end target for the S&P 500 to 6,600 points from 6,200.
At 08:12 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis rose 132 points, or 0.29%, S&P 500 E-minis gained 12.50 points, or 0.20%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis added 32.75 points, or 0.14%.
Among top movers, Nvidia (NVDA.O), slipped 1.3% in premarket trading after reports the chipmaker had asked Foxconn (2317.TW), to suspend work on the H20 AI chip, the most advanced product the company is permitted to sell to China.
Google-parent Alphabet (GOOGL.O), gained 1.3% after reports the company has struck a six-year cloud computing deal with Meta Platforms (META.O), worth more than $10 billion. Meta shares last rose 0.2%.
Intuit (INTU.O), dropped 6.3% after the TurboTax-maker forecast first-quarter revenue growth below analysts' estimates due to sluggish performance at its Mailchimp marketing platform.
Workday (WDAY.O), shed 4.4% after the human resources software provider provided an in-line outlook for the current quarter.
Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan and Sanchayaita Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Pooja Desai
