The Federal Reserve’s annual Jackson Hole conference will be this week’s highlight, including a highly anticipated speech by Jerome Powell on Friday morning. The Fed chair is expected to lay the groundwork for a September interest-rate cut.
The central bank will also release the minutes from its late-July monetary policy meeting on Wednesday. Economic data out this week will include the Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index for July on Monday and S&P Global’s Manufacturing and Services Purchasing Managers’ Indexes for August on Thursday.
Earnings reports this week will include Palo Alto Networks and Estee Lauder on Monday and Lowe's on Tuesday. Analog Devices, Target, and TJX Companies publish results on Wednesday, then Dollar Tree, Intuit, and Ross go on Thursday.
Monday 8/19
Palo Alto Networks and Estée Lauder report earnings.
The Conference Board releases its Leading Economic Index for July. The consensus estimate is for a 0.3% month-over-month decline after the index slid 0.2% in June.
Tuesday 8/20
Lowe’s publishes its second-quarter results.
Wednesday 8/21
Analog Devices, Synopsys, Target, and TJX report results.
The Federal Open Market Committee will release the minutes from its late-July monetary policy meeting. The FOMC voted unanimously to hold the federal-funds rate at a target range of 5.25%-5.50%. After the July meeting, traders boosted their bets on rate cuts starting in September.
Thursday 8/22
Dollar Tree, Intuit, and Ross Stores report earnings.
The Fed’s annual Monetary Policy Symposium begins in Jackson Hole, Wyo., running from Aug. 22-24. The conference’s subject this year is “Reassessing the Effectiveness and Transmission of Monetary Policy.”
S&P Global releases both its Manufacturing and Services Purchasing Managers’ Indexes for August. The consensus call is for a 50.0 reading for the Manufacturing PMI and a 54.0 reading for the Services PMI. Those compare with 49.6 and 55.0, respectively, in July.
The National Association of Realtors reports existing-home sales for July. Expectations are for a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.9 million homes sold, essentially even with the June data.
Friday 8/23
Powell is scheduled to address the Jackson Hole conference at 8 a.m. local time, or 10 a.m. Eastern. He is expected to lay the groundwork for an interest-rate cut at the Fed’s Sept. 17-18 policy meeting.
The Census Bureau reports new residential sales data for July. Economists’ consensus calls for a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 625,000 new single-family homes sold, which would be slightly higher than in June.
