Wall Street: The spotlight in the week ahead will be entirely on the US Federal Reserve’s seventh monetary policy decision of the current year on Wednesday.

At the upcoming meeting, the central bank is widely expected to reduce interest rates due to a slowdown in the labor market.

The Fed’s two-day meeting is scheduled to begin on September 16 and will conclude on September 17, with a policy decision.

The interest rate decision will be followed by Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference that is set to draw attention amid rising tensions between the US President Donald Trump’s administration and Fed policymakers.

The economic calendar will see reports on retail sales, industrial production, housing starts, among others.

On the earnings front, few big companies such as FedEx and General Mills are slated to declare their financial results in the week ahead.

Economic Calendar

On September 15 (Monday), a report on Empire State manufacturing survey for September will be released.

On September 16 (Tuesday), separate reports on US retail sales for August, import price index for August, industrial production for August, and home builder confidence index for September will be released.

On September 17 (Wednesday), housing starts for August and FOMC interest rate decision will be released.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference is also scheduled.

On September 18 (Thursday), separate reports on initial jobless claims for the week ended September 13, Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey for September, and US leading economic indicators for August will be released.

Earnings

Following companies are due to report second quarter results in the week ahead — Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, Radiant, Ferguson, Evolution Petroleum, Flux Power Holdings, General Mills, Nano Dimension, FedEx, Lennar, FactSet Research, and MoneyHero Limited.

Markets Last Week

US stock markets closed mixed on Friday ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting.

The S&P 500 fell 0.05% to end the session at 6,584.29 points. The Nasdaq rose 0.45% to 22,141.10 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.59% to 45,834.22 points.

For the week, the S&P 500 rose 1.6%, the Dow climbed almost 1% and the Nasdaq added 2%.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.06% from 4.01%.

Gold prices rose to near record $3,650 an ounce on Friday on expectations the Fed is poised to lower US interest rates.

Oil prices surged on Friday after a Ukrainian drone attack suspended loadings from the largest port in western Russia.

Brent crude futures ended at $66.99 a barrel, up 62 cents, or 0.93%. US West Texas Intermediate crude settled at $62.69, a gain of 32 cents, or 0.51%.