MARKET SNAPSHOT

Stocks rallied as Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled possible interest-rate cuts in September during a speech at the Jackson Hole conference. The remarks caused Treasury yields and the dollar to fall, while gold settled higher. Meanwhile, oil gained as efforts towards negoations to end the Russia-Ukraine war seemed distant.

MARKET WRAPS

EQUITIES

U.S. stocks surged Friday, boosting the Dow to its first record close this year after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell opened the door for the central bank to cut rates next month.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average set its first record in 2025, gaining 1.9%. The S&P 500 was up 1.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite added 1.9%. Only the Nasdaq is down for the week.

Speaking in Jackson Hole, Wyo., Powell cited risks that inflation will continue rising and that the labor market will keep weakening. He called that combination unusual and suggested it could prompt the Fed to support economic growth by reducing rates.

Powell said tariff-related costs will continue to accumulate in the economy, but for the first time suggested somewhat greater confidence that the effects of higher goods prices would be relatively short-lived.

Stocks is Asia were mixed.

Stocks in China rose. The Shanghai Composite Index increased 1.4%. The Shenzhen Composite Index gained 1.5%, while the ChiNext Price Index ended 3.4% higher.

In Hong Kong, stocks increased as the Hang Seng Index climbed 0.9%.

Japanese stocks also rose. The Nikkei Stock Average gained 0.1%.

Stocks in Australia slipped as the S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index fell 0.6%.

In New Zealand, stocks also declined. The S&P/NZX 50 Index declined 1.1%.

COMMODITIES

Oil futures posted weekly gains as efforts toward negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine war looked like they'll take longer than it previously appeared.

"Trying to get a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine is very complicated and the market isn't as sure as they were only last week," Phil Flynn of the Price Futures Group said.

"Oil seems to be locked in a geopolitical trading range as U.S. inventories are tight and the crack spreads for heating oil and gasoline stay solid. Oil traders that were holding record short positions are now flip- flopping back and forth," Flynn added.

Unlike equities, crude showed little reaction to Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments that raised expectations for an interest-rate cut in September, despite resulting dollar losses.

WTI settled up 0.2% at $63.66 for a 2.7% weekly gain. Brent gained 0.1% to $67.73, up 2.9% on the week.

Front-month gold settled up 1.1% for the day. It ended the week nearly 1.2% higher.

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES

Powell Highlights Job Market Worries, Opening Path to Rate Cut

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo.-Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell opened the door for rate cuts next month when he said the labor market might be softening enough to rein in inflation that is being pushed up by tariffs.

Throughout the year, Powell and his colleagues have held rates steady, pointing to a solid labor market and uncertainty over the inflation outlook given large tariff hikes. But Powell suggested the outlook was changing in a direction that could justify a resumption of rate cuts in a widely watched address at a conference in Wyoming on Friday.

"The balance of risks appears to be shifting," Powell said. While labor markets appear to be stable, "it is a curious kind of balance that results from a marked slowing in both the supply of and demand for workers."

Canada to Remove 25% Tariff on Some U.S. Goods

OTTAWA-Canada said it would remove its 25% tariff on about half of the U.S. goods it has targeted since March as the country attempts to reset its trading relationship with the U.S.

However, Prime Minister Mark Carney said 25% duties on U.S. steel, aluminum and automobiles would remain in place. Overall, the decision affects about $21 billion of U.S. exports to Canada, on goods such as orange juice, peanut butter, wine, spirits, beer, appliances and motorcycles. Tariffs on those goods come off as of Sept. 1.

The move comes the day after Carney and President Trump spoke for the first time since the two countries failed to reach a trade deal before an Aug. 1 deadline. At a press conference Friday, Carney said that by dropping the tariffs, the U.S. and Canada will now treat the bulk of their trade equally. The U.S. exempts Canadian imports from a 25% tariff so long as they comply with the terms in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade treaty, known as USMCA. Canada will do the same with U.S. imports.

Trump Says U.S. Will Take Nearly 10% Equity Stake in Intel

President Trump said the government is taking a nearly 10% stake in Intel, capping a two-week frenzy in Washington over the future of the company and fueling speculation about what else might be done to help the troubled chip maker.

Trump said in the Oval Office Friday that the company has agreed to give the government the stake as part of discussions about the company's future and billions of dollars in grants it has received from the 2022 Chips Act.

The agreement came out of a meeting last week between Trump and Intel Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan, which came days after the president called for Tan to resign over his past ties to China.

JPMorgan to Pay $330 Million Over 1MDB Transactions

JPMorgan Chase will pay $330 million to settle claims that it facilitated transactions in the looting of a Malaysian sovereign-wealth fund, one of the largest financial crimes of the century.

Malaysia had sued the bank's Swiss unit in Malaysian civil court four years ago, alleging dishonest assistance in facilitating $800 million of payments from Malaysia's 1MDB state investment fund, formally called 1Malaysia Development Berhad, to a fraudulent joint venture. Two businessmen behind the joint venture, 1MDB PetroSaudi, were found guilty of fraud, criminal mismanagement and money laundering in Swiss criminal court last year.

JPMorgan and the Malaysian government in a joint statement Friday said they have resolved all 1MDB matters and that JPMorgan will contribute $330 million to a Malaysian asset-recovery trust.

TikTok to Lay off Hundreds of U.K. Content Moderators in AI Push

TikTok plans to lay off hundreds of workers in the U.K., as the video platform turns to artificial intelligence to automate content moderation.

Social-media companies built teams dedicated to policing online content in recent years, but some of them have started to scale back the efforts lately.

TikTok, owned by China-based ByteDance, said the layoffs are part of a global restructuring that also affects its operations in South and Southeast Asia.

Waymo to Begin Testing Its Robotaxis in New York City

Waymo is coming to New York City.

The self-driving car company, which is owned by Google parent Alphabet, received a permit to begin testing a limited number of autonomous vehicles in parts of Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn, Mayor Eric Adams and the New York City Transportation Department said Friday.

The permit authorizes Waymo to test its vehicles south of 112th Street in Manhattan, and north of Atlantic Avenue and west of Carlton Street in Brooklyn, a spokeswoman from the mayor's office said.

Expected Major Events for Monday

05:00/SIN: Jul CPI

05:00/JPN: Jun Indexes of Business Conditions - Revision

05:30/JPN: Jul Tokyo area department store sales

05:30/JPN: Jul Nationwide department store sales

10:59/THA: Jul Trade data

21:00/SKA: Aug Consumer Sentiment Index

23:50/JPN: Jul Services Producer Price Index

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 24, 2025 16:30 ET (20:30 GMT)

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