In This Article:
By Noreen Burke
Investing.com -- The main event in the coming week is the Federal Reserve’s annual symposium, with investors hoping for indications on when the Fed will begin tapering the monetary stimulus that has powered stocks to record highs. The economic calendar also features a string of economic data, including updates on home sales, durable goods and personal income and spending. Equity markets could be looking at a choppy week after last weeks Fed minutes rattled investors. Earnings will continue with Best Buy , Dell and HP among the companies reporting and in the euro zone PMI data will give some fresh insights into how the economy is performing. Here’s what you need to know to start your week.
Advertisement: High Yield Savings Offers
Jackson Hole
The Fed is expected to communicate its plans for slowing its $120 billion per month asset purchase program, the first step down the road to eventual interest rate hikes.
But the prospect of stimulus being reduced at a time when the rise of the highly contagious delta variant is clouding the outlook for the economic recovery has spooked markets.
The Fed announced Friday that its annual symposium would be held online instead of at its usual location in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The symposium will run from Thursday through Saturday, but the main event will be the keynote speech by Fed Chair Jerome Powell, scheduled for 10 AM ET (1400 GMT) on Friday.
Last week’s minutes of the Fed’s July meeting pointed to a greater likelihood of a taper beginning this year and Powell's speech could be the last hint at the central bank’s next steps before its September policy meeting.
Economic data
Besides the Fed’s annual get-together market watchers will also have to digest a slew of economic data in the week ahead, including reports on home sales, durable goods and personal income and spending.
Figures on existing home sales are released on Monday, followed a day later by a report on new home sales. Data on durable goods orders is due out on Wednesday and initial jobless claims numbers will be released Thursday. Revised figures on second-quarter GDP are also out on Thursday but are expected to show little change.
Friday brings the release of personal spending data along with the core PCE price index, the Fed's preferred gauge of inflation, which has been running near a 30-year high.
Choppy markets
One of the main risks facing equity investors is the prospect that the Fed will begin scaling back its support for the economy just as growth starts losing momentum and the delta variant threatens to rollback reopenings across the country.