By Chris Matthews and Mark DeCambre, MarketWatch

Nordstrom beats on earnings and sales, lowers outlook

Stocks rose at the start of trade Thursday, as investors shifted their focus to the annual Federal Reserve symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo., which could provide investors insight about coming monetary policy after minutes from the Fed's July 30-31 meeting offered few surprises and suggest that policy makers want to remain flexible.

How are the major benchmarks faring?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 109 points or 0.4%, at 26,315, the S&P 500 rose 10 points, or 0.4%, to 2,935, while the Nasdaq Composite index rose 20 points to 8,040, an increase of 0.3%.

On Wednesday, the Dow rose 240.29 points, or 0.9%, to 26,202.73, the S&P 500 index climbed 23.92 points, or 0.8%, to 2,924.43, while the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 71.65 points, or 0.9%, to 8,020.21.

Read:Stocks say the consumer isn't as strong as government data suggests (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stocks-say-the-consumer-isnt-as-strong-as-government-data-suggests-2019-08-21)

What's driving the market?

The Jackson Hole gathering kicks of later Thursday, where Fed officials will convene with academics and foreign central bankers in the Grand Teton mountains in Wyoming to discuss the economic outlook. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will deliver a closely watched speech on the challenges facing monetary policy at 10 a.m. Eastern Time on Friday.

Wall Street is eager to gain insights about monetary policy in the U.S. and across the globe as a number of signals have pointed to the possibility that a recession may be lurking in the domestic economy. On Wednesday, the so-called yield curve, the spread between the 2-year Treasury note and the 10-year briefly inverted for the second time in a week, with that condition being viewed as an accurate predictor of coming economic recessions.

However, market participants and economists have told MarketWatch that the Fed may not be as alarmed (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-not-on-red-alert-after-yield-curve-inversion-2019-08-14) by the so-called yield-curve inversion, where shorter-dated yields rise above their longer-dated counterparts.

Jackson Hole comes after minutes of the Fed's July meeting published Wednesday showed policy makers believed that "it was important to maintain optionality in setting policy." The rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee voted 8 to 2 to lower its target for short-term interest rates by 25 basis points to 2%-2.25%, marking its first such rate reduction in more than a decade.

"We already knew that last months Fed rate cut was likely to be a contentious decision, given the differing views that were already being voiced in the lead-up to the decision," wrote Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, in a daily research note.

"Yesterday's release of the minutes only served to confirm that view, and while Fed [Chairman] Jay Powell pushed the line that the reduction was a "mid-cycle adjustment" policy makers were sharply split on the course of action to take," he wrote.

The European Central Bank, meanwhile, hinted at a significant new stimulus package after the release of minutes from its July 25 meeting, which suggested that policy makers are contemplating a package that would includes cutting policy rates further into negative territory and new purchases of financial assets.

In U.S. economic data, new applications for unemployment benefits (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-fall-12000-to-209000-in-mid-august-back-near-half-century-low-2019-08-22)fell by 12,000 to 209,000 during the week ended Aug 17, a four-week low, suggesting continued strength in the labor market.

At 9:45 Eastern time IHS Markit will release its flash readings of its indexes measuring the health of the U.S. manufacturing and services sectors.

Which stocks are in focus?

Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) issued second-quarter financial results (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nordstrom-stock-rallies-after-companys-q2-sales-eps-beat-2019-08-21) Wednesday after the close, beating Wall Street expectations for sales and earnings, though it slightly lowered its outlook for the full year. The retailer's stock rose 8.7% Thursday.

Mastercard Inc. (MA) could be in focus after it said it was investigating a data breach (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mastercard-says-its-investigating-a-data-breach-of-german-loyalty-program-2019-08-22) of a loyalty program in Germany, which compromised personal information. Shares were up 0.1%

Shares of L Brands Inc. (LB) fell 7.2%, after the Victoria-Secret parent issued second-quarter results Wednesday evening (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/victorias-secret-parent-l-brand-stock-falls-after-mixed-q2-lower-guidance-2019-08-21) that fell short of Wall Street expectations.

Shares of Hormel Foods Corp. (HRL) gained 2.9% after the meat producer released fiscal third-quarter results Thursday morning.

Shares of BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings Inc. (BJ) rallied 10% Thursday, after the wholesale retailer reported second-quarter earnings that beat expectations, while same-store sales growth matched expectations.

Splunk Inc. (SPLK) also issued earnings after the close of trade Wednesday, beating analyst expectations for adjusted earnings. The cyber security firm also announced a $1.05 billion acquisition of cloud monitoring company SingalFX. Shares were down 5.5%.

How are other markets trading?

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose 2.3 basis points at 1.605%, compared with the 2-year Treasury note which added 2.8 basis points to 1.594%.

Stocks in Asia traded mixed overnight, as China's CSI 300 edged up 0.3%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index retreated 0.8% and Japan's Nikkei 225 inched up less than 0.1%.

In Europe, stocks traded mostly lower, with the Stoxx Europe 600 down 0.1%.

In commodities markets, the price of U.S. crude oil was rising, while gold prices were seeing solid losses (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-prices-edge-higher-as-bond-yields-slide-2019-08-20). The U.S. dollar edged lower against its major counterparts.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 22, 2019 09:40 ET (13:40 GMT)

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