Federal Reserve panel to discuss interest rates
Wall Street will wade through a slew of fresh economic data in the coming week as it strives to determine how well the economy is holding up and whether the surge in stocks of the last few months can be sustained through the end of 2006.
One area of nearly universal focus will be Tuesday’s meeting of the Federal Reserve’s rate-setting Open Market Committee.
Although Wall Street generally expects the panel to leave short-term interest rates at 5.25%, investors will pore over the statement that follows the meeting for a sense of when the central bank might lower rates.
Since 2004, the central bank raised rates 17 straight times, before leaving them unchanged at its last three meetings.
A strong employment report released Friday for November, though viewed largely as good news, damped some hopes that the Fed might be forced sooner than later to lower rates.
The report helped send stocks higher last week, however, with the Dow Jones industrial average rising 0.9%, the Standard & Poor’s increasing 0.9% and the Nasdaq composite index advancing 1%.
Beyond the Fed meeting, investors will be looking at retail sales figures for November to determine whether consumers are spending as much as hoped this holiday season. Reports from individual retailers have been mixed, making the government report all the more important.
From the Associated Press
The week ahead
Today
* Treasury bill auction.
Tuesday
* Commerce Department reports on international trade for October.
* Treasury Department reports on federal budget for November.
* Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee meets to discuss interest rates.
* Former Enron Chief Executive Jeffrey K. Skilling due to report to federal prison in Waseca, Minn.
* Quarterly earnings reports due from Best Buy and Goldman Sachs Group.
Wednesday
* Commerce Department reports on retail sales for November and business inventories for October.
* Oil ministers from members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries hold preliminary discussions in Abuja, Nigeria, before a formal meeting Thursday to set a production strategy for halting a price decline.
* Securities and Exchange Commission holds a meeting on hedge fund regulation, Sarbanes-Oxley rules, Internet proxy voting and deregistration of foreign firms.
Thursday
* U.S. delegation headed by Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke arrives in Beijing for talks on economic and trade issues.
* Labor Department reports on weekly jobless claims.
* Freddie Mac reports on mortgage rates.
* Quarterly earnings reports due from Adobe Systems, Bear Stearns, Costco Wholesale and Lehman Bros. Holdings.
Friday
* Labor Department reports on consumer price index for November.
* Federal Reserve reports on industrial production for November.
