Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signalled at the Jackson Hole symposium that a cooling labour market may warrant lower borrowing costs, marking his clearest acknowledgement yet that policy could ease as soon as the next Federal Open Market Committee meeting on 17 September. Following the remarks, futures traders put the likelihood of a 25-basis-point cut at roughly 85-87%, up from about 60% a week earlier, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Barclays, BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank quickly shifted their base-case forecasts to include a September reduction. Equities, which had rallied sharply on Friday, surrendered ground on Monday as investors reassessed the outlook. The S&P 500 lost 0.43% to 6,439.32, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 349 points to 45,282.47, and the Nasdaq Composite eased 0.22% to 21,449.29. Treasury yields firmed and the dollar strengthened, indicating lingering uncertainty over the breadth and pace of any easing cycle. Attention now turns to incoming data—the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, the July PCE price index, is due on 29 August, followed by the August employment report next week—that could still sway the policy debate. Markets are also bracing for Nvidia’s quarterly results on 27 August; the AI chipmaker accounts for nearly 8% of the S&P 500, making its guidance a potential catalyst for broader risk sentiment.