Earnings from Navistar, FedEx and Nike are due out
Market activity is ramping up before the end of the year, with a number of economic indicators for investors to analyze as they hit December's halfway point. A two-day Federal Reserve meeting is on tap for Wednesday and Tuesday. Mid-week is also jam-packed with production and capacity utilization data, as well as import price and manufacturing indexes. Retail sales, housing starts and inventories data, are also on tap, as well as the weekly jobless claims update.
As for earnings, a handful of major companies will step into the earnings confessional before the open on Thursday, such as Lennar (LEN), Carnival (CCL), Navistar (NAV) and General Mills (GIS). By the end of the day Friday, FedEx (FDX) and Nike (NKE) will also have reported earnings.
Below is a list of key market events scheduled for the upcoming week. All economic dates listed below are tentative and subject to change.
The week will be off to a relatively slow start on Monday, December 14, except for the monthly oil market report from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Tuesday, December 15 will be busier, with the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) two-day meeting kicking off. Industrial production and capacity utilization data are also due out. In addition, the import price and Empire State manufacturing indexes are on tap.
By Wednesday, December 16, the Fed meeting will wrap up, and attention will shift to retail sales data, as well as the Markit manufacturing and services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI). The National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) index is also scheduled to come out, and so is business inventories data. Rounding out the day is an announcement from Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
Thursday, December 17, shows no signs of slowing down, featuring the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Manufacturing Index, as well as building permits and housing starts data. The usual initial and continuing jobless claims data will also be released then.
The weeks finally slows down on Friday, December 18, though last month's leading economic indicators will be reported that day.