The Federal Reserve's meeting on Wednesday is the most important event this week, though several other items could serve as catalysts. Housing in particular is in focus.
Today's agenda features a mix of general economic numbers. The New York Fed's Empire manufacturing index gets the ball rolling at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Forecasters anticipate a reading of 8.8, up from 7.8 the previous month.
The national Fed will report industrial production and capacity utilization for February at 9:15 a.m. ET. Economists expect production to grow 0.3 percent and utilization to come in at 79.5 percent. Those would compare with reading of 0.2 percent and 79.4 percent respectively in January.
NAHB's home-builder sentiment index at 10 a.m. ET is expected to produce a reading of 56, up from 55 last month. The report could impact homebuilder stocks.
Molycorp and ExOne report earnings in the afternoon as well.
Eurozone consumer prices and Germany's Zew survey of economic sentiment are the first items early tomorrow, followed by housing starts and building permits. Oracle and Adobe Systems announce results after the closing bell, and Chinese house prices come out in the evening.
The Fed's policy statement on Wednesday will be closely watched for evidence that policy-makers plan to start raising interest rates. Attention is likely to fixate whether the word "patient" disappears from the section on "beginning to normalize the stance of monetary policy." (Removal would be hawkish, in favor of higher rates.)
Mortgage applications and crude-oil inventories are due earlier in the session. FedEx and General Mills report earnings in the pre-market, and Jabil Circuit follows after the close.
Thursday brings initial jobless claims, the Philadelphia Fed's index, and natural-gas inventories. Lennar is the most important earnings release in the morning, and Nike is the big name in the afternoon.
Tiffany, KB Home, and Darden Restaurants wrap up the week with their numbers Friday morning.
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