Stocks on Wall Street opened slightly lower on Tuesday after posting their longest rise this year, amid hopes that Jerome Powell will signal the Federal Reserve is ready for a deeper cut when it begins cutting interest rates.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) remained at the flat line after the benchmark index gained for eight days – the longest streak since November. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was also unchanged, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) was down about 0.1%.

Markets are treading water as anticipation builds for Fed Chairman Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole meeting later this week. Stocks have rebounded sharply after a slump in early August as new economic data bolstered the case for the central bank to begin cutting interest rates sooner – and perhaps even more – than previously thought.

Wall Street expects Powell to set the stage for a September rate cut in dovish remarks on Friday after several Fed officials agreed to ease rates. The debate now is more about whether a 0.5% cut is possible than the timing of the move and what role upcoming labor market data will play.

At the corporate level, Lowe’s (LOW) cut its earnings and sales forecasts for the year ahead of the open. The home improvement retailer joined rival Home Depot (HD) in complaining about weak consumer demand for big-ticket purchases.

In commodities, gold (GC=F) continued its rally, climbing above $2,520 an ounce to hit a new record high. The metal’s price has risen over 20 percent so far this year as geopolitical conflicts and the prospect of interest rate cuts boost the appeal of the safe-haven, non-interest-bearing asset.