(MENAFN– ecpulse) The big news in the week ahead will be the Federal Open Market Committee`s highly anticipated September meeting, which will also feature officials` economic and monetary policy projections, along with the press conference by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
Whether or not the Fed will defy the market`s long-standing expectations for a decrease in its monthly asset purchases continues to mystify investors, as the August jobs report was neither good enough nor bad enough to push the Fed definitively in one direction or the other.
In all likelihood the Fed will reduce its purchases by a small amount, perhaps $10 billion, and could perhaps alter its communications regarding the unemployment rate threshold. Nothing is certain with predicting Fed policy moves, however, so there is a great deal of room for surprises.
Fed officials have also made clear that the chairman`s press conference is the ideal setting for communicating changes in policy and the future path of the asset purchase program, so any changes will be made as clear as possible by Bernanke himself after the policy statement is released.
The FOMC will release its policy statement, along with its monetary policy and economic projections Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. ET. Bernanke`s press conference will start at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Housing data to be released next week include August housing starts Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. ET, and the August existing home sales Thursday at 10:00 a.m.
The housing market has recently lost some of its luster after the expectation for a take-off in housing starts continued not to happen. Both new construction and construction permits are expected to post decent gains over the month, though starts have had trouble breaking over the seasonally adjusted annual rate of one million.
Regional manufacturing reports to be released next week include the New York Federal Reserve`s September Empire State manufacturing survey Monday at 8:30 a.m. ET and the Philadelphia Federal Reserve`s September business outlook survey Thursday at 10:00 a.m. ET. Both reports are expected to continue at a comfortable pace of expansion, after having moderated over the past few months.
The August consumer price index will also be released Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Other data to be released next week include initial jobless claims Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET, the Q2 current account report Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET, August industrial production Monday at 9:15 a.m. ET, August leading economic indicators Thursday at 10:00 a.m. ET, and the Mortgage Bankers Association`s mortgage applications index Wednesday at 7:00 a.m. ET.
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