Tuesday's Market Minute: Another Week With The Focus On The Fed

As the dust settles from the FOMC decision last Wednesday to skip or pause rate hikes, the focus will continue to be on central bankers and policy decisions throughout the holiday-shortened week. We’ll hear from the Fed Chair himself Wednesday and Thursday as Jerome Powell is scheduled to present his semi-annual testimony to lawmakers on the Hill. In addition to Powell, we'll also hear from Cook, Mester, Goolsbee, and Jefferson. Investors will be looking for further insight into what the Fed needs to see to resume further rate hikes, or if economic conditions justify another skip. They’ll also be looking for the Fed to further assess the banking situation from earlier this spring.

In terms of data, this week we have the Housing Market Index to kick things off Tuesday. On Wednesday, we have a light schedule with the MBA Mortgage Applications and a bond auction, but things heat up some Thursday and Friday with the weekly Jobless Claims, Existing Home Sales, Leading Indicators, some data from the Chicago Fed, and the PMI Composite Flash to end the week.

In terms of companies reporting quarterly results, keep an eye on FedEx FDX on the close today. Tomorrow we have KB Home KBH and Darden Restaurants DRI on Thursday, and we end the week with a look at results from CarMax KMX. 

Lastly, don't forget about the Bank of England, which is expected to raise rates this week as inflation, employment, and wages remain hot, well above the BOE’s targeted levels. We’ve got the 2-year at 4.7% to begin the week, not far from the near-5% high we saw back in March. And while the market continues to discount the Fed becoming more aggressive into the end of the year, many feel it’s more a matter of when the sense of realism comes back, not so much if.

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