While you were sleeping: Wall St slips as investors eye Jackson Hole

Trader Jeffrey Vazquez works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Photo / AP

Wall Street eased as investors eyed fresh clues on US monetary policy amid concern about the Trump administration's ability to move ahead with policy reforms notably corporate tax cuts.

"Investors are reluctant to get too far out on their skis in terms of buying stocks," Rick Meckler, president of hedge fund LibertyView Capital Management in Jersey City, New Jersey, told Reuters.

"Rallies are not extending the way they had when people had more confidence that the Trump agenda, particularly tax cuts, would be passed."

In 12.30pm trading in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched 0.04 per cent lower, while the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.3 per cent. In 12.15pm trading, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index declined 0.2 per cent.

"Political uncertainties remain ongoing, valuations are full and, technically, there is some signs of deterioration (in the stock market)," Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at US Bank Wealth Management in Minneapolis, told Reuters.

"The backdrop seems favourable for equities to do what we're seeing this morning and that is sideways trending," he noted.

Central bankers from around the world gathered for their annual summit in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where Friday's speeches by US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi will be closely watched for further clues on monetary policy.

Wall Street's fear gauge-the CBOE Volatility Index or the VIX-rose 0.9 per cent to 12.36. US Treasuries fell, pushing the yield on 10-year notes two basis points higher to 2.18 per cent.

The Dow slipped as declines in shares of United Technologies and those of Microsoft, down 1.3 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively, outweighed advances in shares of Merck and those of Cisco, both up 1.1 per cent respectively recently.

A National Association of Realtors report showed existing US home sales fell unexpectedly in July, sliding 1.3 per cent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.44 million units, the lowest since August 2016.

"Buyer interest in most of the country has held up strongly this summer and homes are selling fast, but the negative effect of not enough inventory to choose from and its pressure on overall affordability put the brakes on what should've been a higher sales pace," Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said in a statement.

"Contract activity has mostly trended downward since February and ultimately put a large dent on closings last month," Yun noted.

Meanwhile, a Labour Department showed claims for state unemployment benefits rose 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 234,000 for the week ended August 19.

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index finished the session with a 0.2 per cent advance from the previous close. Germany's DAX Index gained 0.1 per cent, while the UK's FTSE 100 Index rose 0.3 per cent. France's CAC 40 Index inched 0.04 per cent lower.