Here is CNBC’s report on its interview with Fed vice chair Stanley Fischer, who gave markets more to mull over when he highlighted the US economy’s recent strength. Hints that the Fed could raise rates as soon as next month, saw US stock markets erase earlier gains.

Here’s a rather unsympathetic assessment of how financial markets reacted to Janet Yellen’s speech from David Lamb, head of dealing a FEXCO Corporate Payments. He says traders are “unable to see their terminals for the egg on their faces”.

Lamb comments:

“The currency markets frequently live and die by the ‘shoot first and ask questions later’ motto. Today they were asking awkward questions just seconds after firing.

“No sooner had the Fed’s Chair uttered the magic words ‘the case has strengthened’ and trigger-happy traders were snapping up dollars in expectation of an near-immediate rate rise.

“But as the seconds ticked by, it became increasingly clear that a hike is inevitable, but not imminent.

“Cue a huge correction that saw the dollar slump well below its pre-announcement levels – leaving many traders unable to see their terminals for the egg on their faces.

“The caveats came thick and fast. There’s a range of possible rate rise scenarios, they could still be blown of course, and the killer line – gradual hikes are appropriate.”

US stock markets are rallying in the wake of Janet Yellen’s speech, says Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading company IG.

He believes Yellen opted to “please both hawks and doves”.

Beauchamp comments:

“The ‘Dip-buyers anonymous’ team is working at full steam this afternoon, as Janet Yellen finds the right tone to encourage investors to step back into the market at the end of a tedious week. Clearly a modest rise in rates is taken as a sign of confidence in the economy, while the passing reference to other policy measures being potentially necessary in future crises was viewed as leaving the door open to the kind of broader monetary stimulus practised by the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan.”

Looking ahead, he adds:

“Given the enthusiastic reception equity markets have given Janet Yellen, it looks like the steady grind higher will continue into the end of August.”

Andrew Hunter, US economist at the consultancy Capital Economics says Janet Yellen’s comments are “consistent with a US rate hike by year-end”.

To re-cap, the Fed chair said the case for rate rises had strengthened, she rebuffed suggestions monetary policy had lost some of its power and made that now so familiar call from central bankers for fiscal policy to do its share of the heavy lifting.

But there was little in the way of guidance on when US interest rates might rise and so markets were left doing a little dance that I would sum up - if readers will forgive the lack of sophistication - as “Oh no, rate hikes!!! Oh, hang on, as you were, nothing’s imminent.” In other words, the dollar rose and then the dollar fell. Stocks trimmed gains and then recovered.

Hunter at Capital Economics says Yellen’s acknowledgement that “the case for an increase in the federal funds rate has strengthened” would appear to increase the likelihood of a near-term rate hike.

He continues:

“On balance, however, we think most officials will want to see more concrete evidence of a rebound in GDP growth and a rise in inflation towards the 2% target, with a December move still appearing the most likely outcome.

“In a fairly upbeat assessment of current economic conditions, Yellen acknowledged the recent strength of consumption, despite the weakness of GDP growth. She also highlighted that even that subdued pace of growth “has been sufficient to generate further improvement in the labour market”. However, she repeated the warning that the future path of monetary policy will depend on the incoming data.”

And on the consultancy’s view on when rates will rise, Hunter concludes:

“Overall, along with the more upbeat tone of the recent data, we think the odds of a September rate hike have probably increased. They will increase further if we are right in forecasting that non-farm payrolls increased by a solid 180,000 in August (data due next Friday). Nonetheless, with real GDP expanding by just 1.2% over the past 12 months and inflation continuing to run below target, we still think most Fed officials will want to wait until December before next raising rates.”

Here are some reassuring words for any readers struggling to make sense of today’s Jackson Hole speech from Janet Yellen.

Our economics editor, Larry Elliott, says the Fed Chair’s address provided an opportunity for “Wall Street to play one of its favourite games: interpreting a speech by Janet Yellen.”

He writes:

“Truly, in terms of making her pronouncements cryptic, the most powerful central banker in the world is the daughter and heir to her predecessor but one, Alan Greenspan.

Nothing Yellen has come up with comes close yet to Greenspan’s “I know you think you understand what you thought I said but I’m not sure you realise that what you heard is not what I meant” but her presentation at the Jackson Hole symposium was a pretty good effort.”

Full analysis following soon

Rob Carnell, chief international economist at the bank ING says it was a speech full of caveats from Janet Yellen and that “a September rate hike remains awkward to sell to markets unless the inflation data start to move higher”.

He has pulled out two main messages, and one sub-message, from the lengthy Jackson Hole speech.

“The first of the main messages was that the economy has continued to improve and that made the case for a rate hike more likely in the months ahead.

“But “more likely” does not mean “likely”, and markets are still reluctant to buy into a September rate hike story, at least without more information on the evolution of jobs growth, the pace of economic activity, or higher inflation.

“The second message, which we suspect markets may also have problems accepting at face value, is that in the event of a return to crisis, more quantitative easing, coupled with “forward guidance” would likely provide sufficient stimulus to avert catastrophe (our words). This message might very well be filed under the heading of “Well, they would say that wouldn’t they.”

“But buried at the end of the speech, after a section that seemed to draw heavily on the recent paper by the San Francisco Fed President, John Williams’, Yellen proposed an enhanced role for fiscal policy. She talked about the need for measures designed to improve productivity (fiscal, not monetary), as well as enhancing (fiscal) automatic stabilisers. A cynic might paraphrase the speech as “Things are looking brighter, but if it all goes wrong don’t panic, there’s always fiscal policy”.”

David Morrison, senior market strategist at Spreadco has been looking at that rollercoaster market reaction to the speech by Janet Yellen.

He comments:

“Her speech was undeniably hawkish. She said the case for a rate hike has strengthened in recent months. Also, the US economy continues to expand and has reached maximum employment with price stability. This saw the dollar pop higher initially and precious metals fall. Nevertheless, she anticipates that gradual rate hikes are appropriate...

“But as is so often the case, the initial market reaction can be misleading. As traders scanned below the headlines for the meat in the speech, perceptions over Dr Yellen’s thinking changed. Gold and silver have surged as the dollar slumped. Possibly this is connected to her comments that the overall economic situation remains uncertain.”

Janet Yellen has also used her speech to join the chorus of central bankers insisting they are not all out of ammunition.

Her speech to the Jackson Hole meeting, entitled “The Federal Reserve’s Monetary Policy Toolkit: Past, Present, and Future”, unsurprisingly concludes that it’s a well-stocked and effective toolkit.

Yellen says:

“Although fiscal policies and structural reforms can play an important role in strengthening the U.S. economy, my primary message today is that I expect monetary policy will continue to play a vital part in promoting a stable and healthy economy. New policy tools, which helped the Federal Reserve respond to the financial crisis and Great Recession, are likely to remain useful in dealing with future downturns. Additional tools may be needed and will be the subject of research and debate. But even if average interest rates remain lower than in the past, I believe that monetary policy will, under most conditions, be able to respond effectively.”

There are echoes of Bank of England governor Mark Carney, who shortly after the EU referendum said: “The charge that central banks are out of monetary ammunition is wrong, but the widespread absence of global price pressures demands that our firepower be well aimed.”

Also reacting to Janet Yellen’s speech at Jackson Hole, Lee Ferridge, head of multi-asset strategy at State Street Global Markets North America has shared this view:

“Despite recent hints of an ongoing policy rethink at the FOMC [Federal Open Markets Committee], Janet Yellen’s Jackson Hole speech did not break much new ground. Her comments could help arrest the dollar’s recent decline and deal a blow to the rally in risky assets that we have seen in recent weeks. A move at the September meeting remains less likely but a move before year end now looks a distinct possibility should US data continue to improve.”

Some more reactions coming in to Janet Yellen’s speech now, which as we noted earlier left the markets in a bit of a muddle.

The dollar initially strengthened as the Fed chair hinted at further rate rises but then lost those gains, possibly as the timing of any such tightening seems to be some way off. Similarly, stock markets initially trimmed gains on the prospect of higher interest rates and then rose again when traders had digested Yellen’s remarks and decided it was too soon to worry.

Aberdeen Asset Management fixed income investment manager James Athey comments:

“While the bulk of Yellen’s opening remarks at Jackson Hole focussed on monetary policy over the long term, she stated that in her opinion the case for a rate hike has strengthened in recent months. But the lack of any specific signal with regards to the September meeting means markets are unlikely to react adversely to this fairly throwaway comment. Yellen’s comments were largely focussed on the debate around the effectiveness of the Fed’s toolkit.

“Of course she defended the success of previous policy and indeed the ability of the Fed to respond effectively in the future, however she wasn’t shy of highlighting the need for government to assist in the heavy lifting through the use of supportive fiscal policy – a plea we regularly hear from ECB President Mario Draghi.

“However the elephant in the room is that the Fed may well be worshipping at a false idol. There’s more and more evidence to show that inflation just isn’t behaving in the way that economists think it should. The Fed should stop targeting consumer inflation and start looking at a wider suite of measures to judge the health of the economy and the appropriateness of their policy. Sadly it looks like the wide open plains of Wyoming have not inspired any soul searching.”

So it’s a hawkish message from Yellen, but is she telling us anything we didn’t know already?

Well, markets appear to be struggling to make sense of the message from Yellen. US stocks initially trimmed gains only to rise again. The dollar has now reversed its initial gains against the pound and euro.

Here are some of the early reactions (including from UK commentators, who are counting down to a long weekend with a public holiday on Monday):

Those remarks on a stronger case for rate hikes in the US have seen US stock markets trim some of their gains and pushed the dollar up against the euro and pound.

This key extract from the speech shows Janet Yellen and her fellow policymakers are still keen to come across as avid data watchers, but she clearly sees a better case for rate rises:

“In light of the continued solid performance of the labor market and our outlook for economic activity and inflation, I believe the case for an increase in the federal funds rate has strengthened in recent months. Of course, our decisions always depend on the degree to which incoming data continues to confirm the Committee’s outlook,” she said.

Before Janet Yellen speaks in less than an hour, there have been some important developments in the cruise liner industry.

David Hasselhoff of Knight Rider and Baywatch fame will set sail on his first official fan cruise on 4 November next year. The six-day tour on Costa Favolosa will begin in Italy and call at various European ports.

The ticket price starts at €599 (£513) and “David is on board with you for the duration of the cruiser”, apparently.

Events will include a concert, a get-together with the Hoff, an autograph session and – an evening with David “in the large theatre”....

Ben & Jerry’s have recalled some 500ml cartons of their Cookie Dough flavour ice cream over fears they might contain small pieces of metal.

Four batches are thought to have been affected and UK customers have been asked to check batch numbers printed at the bottom of their pots.

The ice-cream maker advised customers to throw the product away if it was from one of the batches. It said in a safety notice:

The company has identified a specific production period during which Ben & Jerry’s Cookie Dough 500ml may have been affected and, as safety remains a top priority, Ben & Jerry’s is voluntarily recalling four batch codes of Cookie Dough 500ml from sale.

As a precaution, everyone with a 500ml tub of Ben & Jerry’s Cookie Dough in their freezers at home should check the batch number on the bottom of their tub to make sure it’s not affected.

And, if it matches the batch numbers listed above, they should not eat the product and, instead, we ask them to discard the product in the usual household bin.

(The batch codes affected are L62110L011, L62111L011, L62112L011 and L62113L011.)

Fancy an ice cream anyone?

Simon Smith, chief economist at FxPro, thinks Janet Yellen should take a cautious approach to her Jackson Hole speech, which is coming up in a hour an a quarter.

Smith says:

Yellen will do her best to sound upbeat on the US economy, but not to tie her hands into tightening policy this year. The Fed has led the market down the garden path once too often on this front, not least at last year’s Jackson Hole summit, so she’d do well to keep her options open this time and not cause a similar furore this year.”

He adds makes the point that central bankers are running out of rope when it comes to monetary policy stimulus:

The issue is that monetary policy is reaching its limits, even the various forms of quantitative easing and negative interest rates being imposed. This is most true for Japan and the eurozone.

That may encourage central bankers to be even more aggressive in their approach, but there are always unintended consequences. This is certainly true in the eurozone, given the costs that negative rates impose on banks and (increasingly) their customers.

European markets remain subdued as we await Yellen’s speech.

The FTSE 100 is down just three points at 6,820.

It’s a similar story across Europe, with the STOXX 600 index down 0.1 points to 341.9.

Ana Thaker, Market Economist at PhillipCapital UK, says investors will be looking to this afternoon’s US GDP number, as well as Yellen’s speech, for clues about the timing of the next rate rise.

Strong data combined with a hawkish Yellen could see the dollar rally as August comes to a close and markets look towards the [rate-setting] FOMC meeting in September.

The Fed are relying on strong economic data to advocate a long anticipated rate hike so data over the last half of 2016 is crucial to both markets and the Fed in determining the direction of policy and markets. We are at a crucial point in the course of monetary policy for the Fed and data points are more pertinent than ever.

Markus Allenspach, head of fixed income research at Julius Baer, says Yellen is unlikely to give any clear signals about September’s Fed meeting:

For weeks already, the market is waiting anxiously for Yellen’s speech, as members of the Federal Reserve often presented conflicting views in the public about the necessity and timing of rate hikes.

We doubt, however, that Yellen will give clear directions today; in her view, monetary policy decisions are taken by the FOMC as a committee.

Back to the main event of the day in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Once Friday’s proceedings get underway at Jackson Lake Lodge, we won’t have long to wait for Janet Yellen’s speech as the chair of the US Federal Reserve is first up at 8am Mountain Time (3pm in the UK).

The meeting runs from 8am to 2pm on both Friday and Saturday, with a series of papers presented, speeches given, and discussions held. As Larry Elliott, the Guardian’s economics editor put it, “Jackson Hole is Davos for central bankers”.

The Bank of England’s Minouche Shafik will give a speech titled adapting to changes in the financial market landscape at 3.50pm UK time.

Other topics up for discussion on Friday include negative interest rates, and “alternative monetary frameworks”. The main topic on Saturday is central bank balance sheets.

The full agenda is published here.

Martin Beck, senior economic advisor to the EY Item Club, says predictions of a self-inflicted Brexit recession are overdone.

An uncertainty-driven slowdown still seems likely. But with a number of recent surveys from the CBI and others showing bouncebacks from post-vote lows, strong official retail sales numbers for July, and the support offered by the package of measures announced by the Bank of England, predictions that the economy will fall into recession look unduly pessimistic.

Here is the Guardian’s full story on the second estimate of Q2 growth, which was confirmed at 0.6%:

Samuel Tombs at Pantheon Macroeconomics is decidedly gloomy about the outlook for the UK economy. He says consumers will start to feel the pinch from rising inflation next year:

Looking ahead, consumers might be able to maintain strong growth in their spending for another quarter, but when inflation picks up in earnest early next year and firms follow through on plans to freeze hiring, they will have to slow down.

Meanwhile, the slight rise in business investment in Q2 provides little reassurance about the post-referendum outlook, since few businesses anticipated the Leave vote and surveys suggest firms are recoiling from major financial commitments in Q3.

As a result, we continue to see a high risk that the economy enters a mild recession over the coming quarters.

Deloitte’s chief economist Ian Stewart, says the consumer recovery is going strong:

The UK entered the post-referendum period with good momentum.

Household spending accounts for roughly two-thirds of the economy and is growing at the fastest rate in eight years. We see few signs that Brexit has derailed the consumer recovery.

Scott Bowman at Capital Economics, says the Brexit vote will weigh on growth in the second half of the year:

UK households shrugged off pre-referendum uncertainty, driving an acceleration in GDP growth in the second quarter.

Looking ahead, growth looks set to slow significantly in the second half of the year as uncertainty related to the Brexit vote takes its toll.

We think that growth will fall to around zero in Q3 and Q4, mainly due to falls in business investment.

Here are three key charts from the second estimate of Q2 growth, which came in at 0.6%...

1. The UK economy has grown every quarter since the first quarter of 2013:

2. On the output side of the economy, only the services sector is back above pre-crisis levels:

3. Households shrugged off uncertainty in the run-up to the 23 June referendum, as consumer spending continued to be a key driver of growth:

Joe Grice, chief economist at the ONS has commented on this mornings figures which confirmed the UK economy grew by 0.6% in the second quarter, following 0.4% growth in the first quarter.

Today’s figures reinforce the picture that the economy grew strongly in April, and then remained relatively flat in May and June.

Business investment grew in the second quarter, partly thanks to companies spending on transport equipment such as cars and planes. However, levels of investment remained lower than at the same period last year.

Our survey returns, which include the period leading up to and immediately following the referendum, show no sign so far of uncertainty having significantly affected investment or GDP.

The Jackson Hole economic symposium has been hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City since 1978.

Representing the Bank of England are Minouche Shafik, deputy governor for markets and banking, and Kristin Forbes, an external member of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee.

Bank of England governor Mark Carney, and European Central Bank president Mario Draghi, will not attend.

Also coming up today...

We will get the second estimate of UK growth in the second-quarter from the Office for National Statistics. Economists polled expect growth to be confirmed at 0.6%.

But Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, says there is a risk that the number could be revised lower, “particularly since we did see some evidence of a slowdown in late May and June as the referendum date approached”.

The latest estimate will provide more details on how the different parts of the economy performed between April and June.

So far the consumer side of the economy appears to have held up well since the Brexit vote on 23 June, but those numbers as well as business investment figures will be closely scrutinised in the coming months for signs of waning confidence.

In the US (before Yellen speaks at 3pm UK time) we will get the second estimate of Q2 growth from the world’s largest economy.

European markets are expected to open slightly lower this morning as traders pause for breath before Yellen’s speech.