The main event this week will be the Federal Reserve’s September policy meeting. Investors will also be watching for several corporate earnings releases, investor days, and the latest economic data.
Lennar reports quarterly earnings on Monday, followed by results from Adobe , AutoZone , and FedEx on Tuesday. General Mills goes on Wednesday, then Nike , Accenture , Costco Wholesale, and Darden Restaurants report on Thursday. Investor days this week include Biogen on Tuesday, Weyerhaeuser on Wednesday, and Salesforce .
com on Thursday.
The Federal Reserve’s monetary policy committee meets on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. The central bank is unlikely to change its target interest rate range, but could give an update on its plans to begin reducing its monthly asset purchases. Wednesday afternoon’s press conference with Fed chair Jerome Powell will be closely watched.
Economic data out this week include the Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index for August on Thursday. There will also be several updates on the U.S. housing market including the National Association of Home Builders’ Housing Market Index for September on Monday, the Census Bureau’s new residential construction data for August on Tuesday, and the National Association of Realtors’ existing-home sales for August on Wednesday.
Monday 9/20
Lennar reports third-quarter fiscal-2021 results.
Merck presents data on its portfolio of cancer drugs, in conjunction with the European Society for Medical Oncology’s 2021 Congress.
The National Association of Home Builders releases its Housing Market Index for September. Economists forecast a 73 reading, two points below August’s figure, which was the lowest in more than a year.
Tuesday 9/21
Adobe, AutoZone, and FedEx release earnings.
Biogen hosts an investor day to discuss its pipeline of neuroscience therapeutics.
The Census Bureau reports on new residential construction for August. Consensus estimate is for a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.55 million housing starts, 1% higher than the July level. Housing starts are down from their post–financial crisis peak of 1.725 million, reached in March of this year.
Wednesday 9/22
The FOMC announces its monetary-policy decision. The Federal Reserve is likely to keep the federal-funds rate unchanged at near zero, but might signal that it will pare its asset purchases later this year.
General Mills reports first-quarter fiscal-2022 results.
Boston Scientific , Weyerhaeuser, and Yum China Holdings host their 2021 investor days.
The Bank of Japan
announces its monetary-policy decision. The BOJ is widely expected to keep its key short-term interest rate unchanged at minus 0.1%, as Tokyo and other regions remain in a state of emergency through the end of September due to the Covid-19 Delta variant.
The National Association of Realtors reports existing-home sales for August. Expectations are for a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 578,000 homes sold, down 3.5%
from July’s 599,000.
Thursday 9/23
Accenture, Costco Wholesale, Darden Restaurants, and Nike hold conference calls to discuss their quarterly results.
Salesforce.com holds its 2021 investor day. CEO Marc Benioff and Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield will be among the participants. Salesforce completed its $28 billion acquisition of Slack this summer.
The Conference Board releases its Leading Economic Index for August. Economists forecast a 0.5% month-over-month rise, after a 0.9% increase in July. The Conference Board currently projects 6% gross-domestic-product growth for 2021, and 4% for 2022.
Friday 9/24
Kansas City Southern hosts a special shareholder meeting to vote on a proposed merger with Canadian Pacific Railway .
Write to Nicholas Jasinski at [email protected]
