Stock Futures Little Changed as Wall Street Gears Up for Yellen's Speech

New York (Aug 26)  Stock futures were little changed, hovering just below flat, as investors waited for key rate-hike clues from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen later in the morning.

S&P 500 futures were down 0.02%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 0.03%, and Nasdaq futures declined 0.06%.

Yellen will deliver a widely anticipated speech mid-morning at the Economic Policy Symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo., a presentation that provide important context to the markets' outlook for interest rates.

"We expect the Chair to carry the torch and set a tone that suggests a greater likelihood of a September hike than the market is pricing in," BNP Paribas analysts wrote in a note. "We expect a positive assessment of the state of the economy before Ms. Yellen gets into tools that the Fed has at its disposal to combat any economic downturn."

The chances of a September rate hike currently sit at 21%, according to CME Group fed funds futures. A rate hike in December has better chances at 41%.

Fed members headed to Jackson Hole for their closely-watched two-day summer summit on Thursday. Prominent central bankers, finance ministers and economists from around the world meet annually to discuss economic trends and monetary policy action.

GameStop (GME) slipped 10% as quarterly sales missed estimates and comparable-store sales disappointed. The video-game retailer earned 27 cents a share, a penny above forecasts, while revenue of $1.63 billion missed estimates of $1.76 billion. Same-store sales fell 10.6%, far worse than an expected decline between 4% and 7%. Third-quarter earnings guidance between 53 cents and 58 cents a share met analysts' estimates of 55 cents.

Source: TheStreet