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US stocks rise ahead of Fed chairperson's speech

Wall Street stocks won modest gains early Friday ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve chairperson Jerome Powell that could bolster expectations for another interest rate hike next month.

About 10 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3% to 25 728.45.

The broad-based S&P 500 had also advanced 0.3% to 2 865.69, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.5% to 7 915.26.

The gains come after stocks fell on Thursday as trade talks between the United States and China were concluding. The negotiations ended without an agreement.

Powell was scheduled to deliver remarks Friday morning to an annual late-summer central banker gathering in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, two days after minutes from the Fed's last meeting suggested two more rate hikes in 2018 amid US economic strength.

The remarks also will fall only days after US President Donald Trump criticized Powell for rate hikes Trump fears could dent economic growth. Trump's remarks broke with recent norms according to which the White House should refrain from commenting on Fed decisions.

Among individual companies, Gap sank nine percent after its namesake brand stores suffered a five percent drop in comparable sales, even as second-quarter profits rose 9.6% to $297m.

Gap reaffirmed its full-year profit forecast but did not boost the estimate, as some other retailers had this week.

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