(MENAFN– ecpulse) Next week features a number of key economic releases in the U.S., including the advanced Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the second quarter, the July non-farm payrolls report, and another meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).
Federal Open Market Committee
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and fellow policy makers probably will vote to continue the central bank’s record level of bond buying, and may wait until September to trim the monthly amount from $85 billion.
Not much is expected for the next meeting of the FOMC. After a storm of miss-communications in the last couple of months, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke seems to have convinced markets of two principles going forward: that the expected "tapering" of asset purchases does not indicate the beginning of monetary policy tightening, and that Fed is very flexible in terms of when further reductions in asset purchases will take place.
Given the relative calm surrounding Fed expectations, it`s unlikely the committee will include anything surprising in the policy statement, to be released Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. ET.
The July employment report will also be released Friday at 8:30 a.m. ET, and is expected to show a steady pace of job growth, just around the current average of 195,000 new employees per month.
Any surprises up or down are likely to stir markets , as the expectation for a September "tapering" by the FOMC is contingent on this pace of job creation.
Other jobs-related data to be released over the week, which are likely to influence the outcome of Friday’s report, include initial jobless claims Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET and the ADP employment report Wednesday at 8:15 a.m. ET.
The MNI Chicago report , to be released Wednesday at 9:45 a.m .ET, is expected to get another boost in the June release.
The index saw a surprise bounce to a 14-month high of 58.7 in May, though this was followed by a broad-based drop in the June report to 51.6. The July index is expected to fall roughly in the middle of the two.
Other data to be released include June pending home sales Monday at 10:00 a.m. ET, the June S&P Case-Shiller home price index Tuesday at 9:00 a.m. ET, the Conference Board`s July consumer confidence index Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. ET, June construction spending Thursday at 10:00 a.m. ET, June factory orders Friday at 10:00 a.m. ET, June personal income Friday at 8:30 a.m. ET
GDP
The advanced second quarter GDP report, to be released Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. ET, will also include annual revisions that could go a long way in explaining the current mismatch between average monthly job creation and economic growth.
The current pace of job creation currently above GDP growth, so it could be that the latter has been underreported so far.
Second-quarter growth is expected to me somewhat modest, limited by slower construction and trade figures. The advanced reading is expected to show the U.S. economy grew by 1.0 percent in the second-quarter.
Next week also features rate decisions by major central banks in Europe . The European Central Bank is likely to leave its benchmark rate at a record low of 0.5 percent. ECB President Mario Draghi will give a news conference.
The Bank of England monetary policy committee (MPC) meets on Wednesday and Thursday, but no action is expected despite a recent run of robust data.
Earnings
The week ahead will include second-quarter results from major companies such as NYSE Euronext, Loews Corp., MasterCard Inc., CBS Corp., Procter & Gamble, Time Warner Cable Inc, Chevron Corp., and Berkshire Hathaway.
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