US pre-open: Stocks seen flat as investors eye Yellen speech

US futures pointed to a broadly flat open on Wall Street with little in the way of fresh corporate or economic news to drive sentiment as investors looked ahead to Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s speech at Jackson Hole on Friday.

At 1030 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were all up just 0.1%.

At the same time, oil prices retreated on news that Iraq – OPEC’s second-biggest oil producer – will boost its oil exports by 5%. A jump in the US oil-rig count also weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate was down 1.5% at $47.79 a barrel and Brent crude was 1.6% lower at $50.06.

Joshua Mahony, market analyst at IG, said: “Much of the week will likely be gearing up for the main event, which comes in the form of the annual Jackson Hole meeting, hosted by the Kansas Fed. Crucially, Friday will see Janet Yellen take the same stand upon which Ben Bernanke announced quantitative easing back in 2012, with markets hoping for another game changing nugget on Friday.

“The recent deterioration in the greenback means that many are looking for a dollar bounce back, which coupled with the speculation of Friday’s meeting, means that dollar volatility is likely to be heightened this week.”

Meanwhile, Oanda’s Craig Erlam said Yellen’s speech would be a great opportunity to send a clear and concise message to investors.

“The markets currently have March priced in for the next rate hike and if Yellen is seriously determined to move earlier, she must take advantage of Friday’s opportunity to drive that message home,” he said.

Over the weekend, Federal Reserve vice chairman Stanley Fischer said in a speech at the Aspen Institute in Colorado that the US economy was close to meeting the bank’s targets for inflation and employment.

“Looking ahead, I expect GDP growth to pick up in coming quarters, as investment recovers from a surprisingly weak patch and the drag from past dollar appreciation diminishes,” he said.

On the corporate front, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer was likely to be in focus amid reports it is nearing a deal to buy biotech firm Medivation Inc.

There is no US data of note due on Monday, but Tuesday sees the release of US new home sales.