Bonds & Stocks
US stock futures halted this week’s run of losses in subdued trading ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole speech, with markets scaling back bets on imminent interest rate cuts. S&P 500 contracts erased an early decline to rise 0.3% after the US benchmark slipped for five straight sessions.
Economy
Postal services across the world are suspending parcel deliveries to the US, citing confusion about how to process millions of low-value packages that will lose their duty-free treatment next week. As of Aug. 29, President Donald Trump is ending the so-called de minimis exemption that has applied to more than 4 million parcels flowing through the US each day, driven largely by e-commerce.
World
Canadian retail sales are set to decline after a weak second quarter, capturing a slowdown in consumption spending amid elevated trade uncertainty and slowing population growth. An advance estimate suggests receipts for retailers fell 0.8% in July, following June’s 1.5% jump, according to Statistics Canada data released Friday.