Seoul Gazette - Stocks advance with all eyes on Fed chair's speech

With the euphoria following US chip titan Nvidia's blistering earnings report petering out, attention is squarely on whether the US central bank will tighten monetary policy.

Wall Street indices edged higher at the open while European stocks were broadly higher, with Paris piling on one percent as luxury shares led gains.

"Now that the tech trade is on a more solid footing, the focus can shift to Jackson Hole," the Wyoming town that hosts the Federal Reserve's annual conference, said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading group XTB.

As the speech is typically used to signpost the direction of monetary policy, "it has always been a market-moving event, directly impacting the price of bonds, the dollar and gold", she said.

Last month's Fed meeting saw policymakers keep borrowing costs on hold, but while recent figures show inflation easing slightly, it remains well above the bank's two-percent target.

Worries that price rises will remain elevated for some time, fuelled largely by a spike in energy costs caused by the Iran war, have put upward pressure on long-term US Treasury yields, making government borrowing increasingly expensive.

That could translate into higher rates for companies and households as well.

"The market will want to see some evidence that Warsh has a plan on how to tackle inflationary pressures and will also be hungry for visibility on the likely trajectory of interest rates," said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell.

Asian equity markets largely advanced Friday, though tech firms struggled to extend Thursday's rally that came on the back of Nvidia's profit blowout and bumper forecast, which soothed worries over the AI boom.

Tokyo and Hong Kong rose, while Seoul and Shanghai retreated.

Oil prices were down around one percent after Iran's foreign minister suggested that diplomatic efforts to end the war with the United States were still possible.

US officials have vowed further economic pressure to make Iran open the Strait of Hormuz -- through which about a fifth of world oil usually passes -- after six months of war.

- Key figures at around 1345 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 53,643.75

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.2 percent at 7,745.04

New York - NASDAQ: UP 0.2 percent at 26,596.16

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 10,815.22

Paris - CAC 40: UP 1.0 percent at 8,400.78

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.5 percent at 26,504.64

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.4 percent at 66,405.56 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.1 percent at 25,584.79 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 3,952.18 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1641 from $1.1649 on Thursday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3579 from $1.3586

Euro/pound: DOWN at 85.72 pence from 85.74 pence

Dollar/yen: UP at 159.66 yen from 159.41 yen

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.0 percent at $87.64 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.0 percent at $82.67 per barrel

I.Jang--SG