Reports to Watch

The week is full of key economic data from a variety of sectors.

• Inflation numbers from the Producer Price Index and Consumer Price Index will be released on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
• Retail Sales along with the Fed’s Monetary Policy Statement will be shared Wednesday.
• Regional manufacturing data will be released Thursday in the Philadelphia Fed Index and Empire State Index.
• As usual, weekly Initial Jobless Claims also will be available Thursday.
• On Friday, Housing Starts, Building Permits and the Consumer Sentiment Index will be reported.

X Factor

At the next FOMC meeting, June 13-14, it is widely expected that the Fed will raise the short-term Fed Funds Rate by a quarter percent, bringing the target range to between 1.00 and 1.25 percent. This is the rate at which banks lend money to one another overnight, and markets may already have priced in the hike. Thus, there may not be a big reaction when the monetary policy statement is released Wednesday.

However, the statement could give the investing public clues as to the future path of interest rates and when the Fed may start tapering its huge $4 trillion balance sheet made up of Treasury and Mortgage Backed Securities.

Along with the Fed statement, data releases will cover a broad spectrum of the U.S. economy and will help paint a picture of economic growth.

For more detailed information and insight, view the Economic Calendar, the Daily Market Update and Guidance, and our exclusive Market News. And don’t forget, you can easily download the Economic Calendar to your Outlook Calendar to make sure you don’t miss important economic releases. Just click here to read instructions for downloading to Outlook.