Reports to Watch

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

• Housing data kicks off on Monday with Existing Homes Sales, followed by the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index on Tuesday and New Home Sales on Wednesday.
• Consumer Confidence will be released on Tuesday followed by the Consumer Sentiment Index on Friday.
• Though not an economic report, the Federal Open Market Committee meeting begins Tuesday and will end on Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. ET with the release of the monetary policy statement.
• Durable Goods Orders and weekly Initial Jobless Claims will be delivered on Thursday.
• And last, but not least, the first reading on second quarter 2017 Gross Domestic Product will be released on Friday along with the wage-inflation reading Employment Cost Index.

X Factor

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meets eight times a year. The FOMC, which consists of 12 members, determines near-term monetary policy. Decisions made at the meeting are announced immediately afterward in the monetary policy statement.

The latest two-day FOMC meeting will kick off on Tuesday, July 25 and will end on Wednesday, July 26. Currently, forecasts call for a near-zero percent chance of a hike to the short-term Fed Funds Rate, the rate at which banks lend to one another overnight. Investors will be looking for clues, though, as to when the Fed will begin to taper its massive $4.5 trillion balance sheet, which consists of Mortgage Backed and Treasury securities.

If the Fed lays out a timeline as to when the tapering will begin, market volatility could ramp up. Given the low inflation environment, however, the Fed could begin to taper later in the year and may not be too quick to raise the Fed Funds Rate.

As always, stay tuned to the Mortgage Market Guide as we help you navigate through the potential choppy waters.

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.