stocks headed for a flat open Monday ahead of speeches from Federal Reserve officials that Wall Street hopes will offer insight into the central bank's plans after a weaker-than-expected U.S. Wall Street appeared to be steadying itself after a sell-off on the jobs report that sent the Dow Jones industrials down 250 points.
While some investors had hoped for weakness in the report to help the Federal Reserve justify cutting interest rates when it meets next week, the market was stunned by a loss in jobs when a gain had been expected. With little economic data due Monday, Wall Street will likely pay close attention to comments from several Fed officials expected to speak. Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart, San Francisco Fed President Janet Yellen, Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher and Fed Governor Frederic Mishkin are slated to speak in various events.
Investors will be keen to learn their perspectives on the health of the economy and for any hints as to what the central bank might do when it meets Sept. Over the weekend, Philadelphia Fed Chief Charles Plosser said in reference to Friday's payroll number that the Fed's Open Market Committee doesn't make rate decisions based on any one number, according to Dow Jones Newswires. For many investors, a rate cut after more than a year of the Fed standing pat on rates is inevitable.
The debate, as they see it, is whether the Fed will reduce rates by a quarter percentage point or a half percentage point. Dow futures fell 7, or 0.05 percent, to 13,159.
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