Hot and cold on hype, hikes and a hurricane

US STOCKS rebounded to new records as the Federal Reserve looked likely to give the market a reprieve from rate hikes.

Further gains are likely this week, if employment and manufacturing data is consistent with the emerging picture of a global economic boom and if Hurricane Harvey is not too catastrophic.

In a speech from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, that was almost as hyped as the Mayweather-McGregor fight, Fed chairwoman Janet Yellen studiously avoided tipping her hand on rate plans for the balance of the year. Instead, she mounted a fierce defence of the Fed and other regulators' tighter grip on banks in the wake of the financial crisis.