Wall St The Week Ahead: Fed chair Yellen in spotlight for banking speech
AFTER the S&P 500 slipped on Friday and broke a two-week rally, stocks may find tougher sledding this week as investors may be unwilling to push the benchmark index to a record high.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 has risen three per cent over the past three weeks, as investors have largely been willing to forgive a flurry of soft economic data due to harsh winter weather.
The main focus will be part two of Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s semi-annual monetary policy testimony before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday.
Ironically, Yellen’s congressional testimony before US lawmakers was rescheduled after a Senate panel previously cancelled the original hearing date due to a recent snowstorm in Washington DC.
The economic calendar includes consumer confidence, new home sales and several other reports on the housing market, durable goods orders, the preliminary data on gross domestic product and the final February reading on consumer sentiment.
While the housing data is likely to be discounted as a result of weather issues, the consumer confidence data may still provide insight to investors as to whether economic growth remains on track.
Retail earnings set for release this week include Home Depot, Lowe’s Companies, Target, Macy’s, TJX Companies, JC Penney, Best Buy and Gap.
The stock market could also be roiled again by political turmoil as investors monitor unrest in Venezuela and Ukraine.