Markets on edge for key Bernanke speech

AFP
August 25, 2011

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The last time Ben Bernanke communicated to the public, the US stock market jumped, then plunged, and then soared, all over a few minutes — no one was sure if his statement boded good or bad for the economy.

So when the US Federal Reserve chairman speaks at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday, after weeks of extreme market turbulence, hopes are that he will deliver some clarity both on the economy’s state and whether the Fed will give it a new boost.

With growth in a near-stall, and vulnerable to turbulence imported from troubled Europe, investors want a clear signal that the US central bank chief is ready to act to prevent a return to recession.

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This article was posted: Thursday, August 25, 2011 at 12:50 pm

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