Wall Street Awaits Key Events: Federal Reserve Rate Decision, Powell Speech, and PPI Inflation Report

Market Outlook

Key Developments

The US Federal Reserve is set to announce its interest rate decision on Wednesday, March 18, with a media briefing by Chairman Jerome Powell. The market anticipates the monetary authority to maintain current borrowing costs.

Economic Calendar

• Monday, March 16:

• NY Empire State Manufacturing Index for March
• Industrial production MoM for February
• Capacity utilization for February
• Manufacturing production MoM for February
• NAHB Housing Market Index for March

• Tuesday, March 17: Pending home sales MoM for February
• Wednesday, March 18:

• PPI MoM for February
• Factory orders MoM for January
• Federal Reserve interest rate decision
• FOMC economic projections

• Thursday, March 19:

• Overall net capital flows for January
• Building permits final for January
• Initial jobless claims for the week ended March 14
• Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index for March
• New home sales for January

• Thursday, March 19: Federal Reserve press conference
• Saturday, March 21: Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech

Read also: Treasury Yields Experience Largest Increase in Two Weeks Following Release of Labor Market Data

Corporate Earnings

The following companies are due to report quarter results in the week ahead:

• Dollar Tree
• lululemon
• Tencent
• Micron Technology
• Alibaba
• FedEx
• XPeng

Market Performance

Read also: US-Iran Tensions Spark Uptick in Oil Prices Amid Global Market Decline

• S&P 500: Down 1.6% for the week
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: Down 2% for the week
• Nasdaq Composite: Down 1.3% for the week
• Russell 2000: Down 0.4% for the week

Energy Market

• Crude oil prices rose, bringing the benchmark Brent back above $100 a barrel
• A measure of inflation closely monitored by the Federal Reserve moved higher in January