U.S. stock index futures were lower on Monday as investors once again turned their focus to the possibility of a September interest rate increase.
Weekend comments from Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer appeared to keep the door open for a rate hike next month.
U.S. inflation will likely rebound as pressure from the dollar fades, allowing the Fed to raise interest rates gradually, Fischer told CNBC at the global central banking conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Fischer’s comments suggest the Fed could look beyond a week of stock market turmoil brought on by fears that China’s economy is faltering.
Wall Street closed flat on Friday after a tumultuous week that featured both the market’s worst day in four years and biggest two-day gain since the financial crisis.
Chinese shares had another volatile session on Monday. The Shanghai Composite .SSEC lost 0.8 percent, while the blue-chip CSI300 index .CSI300 ended up 0.7 percent. Both were down more than 4 percent at one point.
The two indexes lost about 12 percent for the month, and nearly 40 percent since mid-June despite repeated and unprecedented measures by the government to shore up the market.
