Stocks rose Thursday in thin summer trading as investors reviewed a batch of economic data and awaited the annual gathering of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyo.
Stocks have mostly fallen in recent sessions as money managers await Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech in Wyoming on Friday. Some expect him to make the case for plowing ahead with interest-rate rises to curb decades-high inflation, a stance that could take the wind out of the rally that took off in mid-June. Another item on the list of investors’ concerns is a major slowdown in China’s economy.