Stocks edge higher but are choppy as Warsh speaks

Main U.S. indexes are posting modest gains.

• Comm Svcs leads S&P 500 sector gainers; industrials is the weakest group.
• Euro STOXX 600 index is up about 0.5%.
• Dollar rallies; gold and U.S. crude decline; bitcoin is off about 1%.
• U.S. 10-year Treasury yield edges up to about 4.68%.

The S&P 500 .SPX bounced between gains and slight losses, but is last up 0.35%.

Major U.S. stock indexes are modestly higher in choppy trading on Friday as Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh gave remarks at the annual Jackson Hole symposium.

Warsh said the U.S. central bank will "have work to do" if policymakers are not confident that underlying inflation is returning to its 2% target. Warsh's comments acknowledged that financial conditions do not appear restrictive and marked the closest he has come to acknowledging interest rate hikes may be needed to ease price pressures.

"The initial conclusion is that Chairman Warsh is giving the market what it wants to a certain extent. He's acknowledging that inflation is an ongoing issue but sticking to his guns of not being overly forward about predicting what the Fed may or may not do in the future. That's as good as you could have hoped coming out of him. The market is reflecting that," said Oliver Pursche, senior vice president and advisor for Wealthspire Advisors in Westport, Connecticut.

"Ultimately the market is going to continue to focus on earnings and economic data."