Stock market news live updates: Stock futures point higher after Powell; Coke rises on restructuring – Yahoo Finance

Stock futures rose modestly early Friday, indicating Wall Street would open to the upside, as major benchmarks consolidated recent gains in the wake of a potential for a policy shift by the Federal Reserve.

Stocks ended Thursday’s regular session on a mixed note, digesting stubbornly high unemployment data and Federal Chair Jerome Powell’s pledge to try and nudge inflation higher. Playing in the background is the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with new infections moderating in the U.S. and the race for a vaccine in full swing.

As a reminder of the COVID-19 crisis, Coca-Cola (KO) announced on Friday it would nearly halve its operating units and offer voluntary separation to 4,000 workers, as the world’s largest beverage maker battles a hit to sales from the pandemic.

Tech stocks, which have powered the broader market to fourth consecutive record closing highs, took a breather on Thursday as traders booked profits on Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL) — which have surged to new records. Facebook (FB), and Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) have also posted their highest-ever closing levels.

Although the Nasdaq snapped a five-day winning streak, the broader S&P 500 Index stretched to its fifth record close, and closed up 6 days in a row. On an intraday basis, the Dow briefly reversed all of its 2020 losses before ending modestly higher. It now sits just over 1,000 points away from February’s record high.

In a closely-watched speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Powell unveiled a new framework of thinking for the central bank that will tolerate inflation “moderately” above its 2% target. The Fed also committed to reviewing this policy every five years. The Fed chief warned that the persistence of low inflation over the last eight years risks new economic difficulties. 

“On the one hand, with the framework review out of the way, it gives the Fed something to do at the September [Open Market Committee] meeting: namely, introduce new, more aggressive forward guidance,” said JPMorgan Chase economist Michael Feroli.

“On the other hand, the absence of any remarks by Powell about actions to support the new strategy may indicate that the Committee is content with the amount of monetary support they are already providing to the economy,” he added.

Meanwhile, Microsoft (MSFT) and Walmart (WMT) got a boost as reports surfaced that the two giants were nearing a joint agreement to buy out TikTok, the embattled viral video app at the center of national security concerns. CNBC reported that the retail giant had joined in with Microsoft to buy the platform, in the wake of TikTok’s CEO resigning. A deal could close as soon as this week, CNBC reported.

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8:30 a.m. ET: Personal income, consumer spending jump in July

Personal income increased by 0.4 percent in July, Bureau of Economic Analysis (Commerce Department) data released on Friday showed. Disposable personal income (DPI) rose by 0.2 percent and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) soared by 1.9 percent.

According to the agency:

The July estimate for personal income and outlays was impacted by the response to the spread of COVID-19. Federal economic recovery payments continued but were at a lower level than in June, and government “stay-at-home” orders lifted in some areas of the country. The full economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be quantified in the personal income and outlays estimate because the impacts are generally embedded in source data and cannot be separately identified.

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8:25 a.m. ET: Futures inch higher as Wall Street tries to extend win streak

Here were the main moves in equity markets, as of 8:25 a.m. ET:

• S&P 500 futures (ES=F): 3,497.00, +11.75 (+0.34%)

• Dow futures (YM=F): 28,623.00, +155.00 (+0.54%)

• Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): 11,960.50, +7.75 (+0.06%)

8:00 a.m. ET: Coke to consolidate 17 units into 9, axes 4000 jobs