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Key Takeaways
- The Federal Reserve is not expected change interest rates during this week’s meeting. However, Jerome Powell’s comments and economic forecasts will be in focus.
- This week’s releases will include retail sales, confidence in homebuilders, housing starts, existing home sales, and more.
- Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang will deliver remarks at the chipmaker's annual GTC event.
- Nike, Micron Technology and FedEx are among the companies that will report their earnings as they weigh the impact of tariffs.
This week will likely be dominated by the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates, comments from Fed chair Jerome Powell, as well as the Fed’s “dot chart” interest rate projections. Retail sales figures are also due, with businesses bracing for the impact that tariffs may have.
Jensen Huang (NVDA), CEO of Nvidia, will deliver the keynote at the company’s annual GTC on Tuesday. This is due to the increasing demand for Nvidia’s chips that support artificial intelligence (AI). Nvidia’s partner Micron Technology is expected to report earnings along with Nike (NKE), Accenture(ACN), FedEx (FDX), Tesla rival Xpeng (XPEV), among others.
Monday, 17 March
- U.S. retail sales (February)
- Empire State Manufacturing Survey (March)
- Business inventories (January).
- Homebuilder Confidence (March)
- Science Applications International Corp.Harrow (HROW),, Getty Images (GETY), and Altus Power Earnings are due to be reported
Tuesday, March 18,
- Housing Starts (February)
- Building Permits (February).
- Import/export Price Index (February)
- Industrial production/capacity usage (February)
- Federal Open Market Committee meeting begins
- Adobe Summit keynote speech
- Nvidia GTC Conference Keynote featuring CEO Jensen Huang
- Tencent Music – TMEXPengHealthEquity HQY Earnings are due to be reported
Wednesday, March 19
- FOMC interest-rate decision
- Press conference by Fed Chair Jerome Powell
- General Mills, GISOLLI is a discount store that offers a wide range of bargains. Five Below (FIVE). Earnings are due to be reported
Thursday, March 20, 2019
- Initial Jobless Claims (Week ending 15 March)
- Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey, March
- Existing home sales (February)
- Leading economic indicators for the United States (February)
- PDD Holdings PDDAccentureNike, Micron TechnologyFedEx, Lennar (LEN)Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) Earnings are due to be reported
Friday, March 21
- First day of comments from Fed officials after meeting blackout
- Carnival (CCL), Nio (NIO). Earnings are due to be reported
Fed Interest-Rate Decision, Powell Remarks, ‘Dot Plot’ Projections, Retail Sales Data in Spotlight
Investors expect that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates unchanged at its conclusion of a two-day meeting on Wednesday. It would be the second consecutive meeting where the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) kept rates unchanged after it reduced interest rates by a full percentage point over the final three meetings of 2024. According to CME’s FedWatch tool market participants have priced-in a near-certainty that the FOMC rates will remain at their current levels between 4.25% and 4.5%.
The Fed’s quarterly report will include its economic projections. This includes the closely watched “dot graph” that shows expected interest rate trends. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who will announce the decision afterward, is expected to answer media queries on interest rates and economic policy, which could impact the markets.
On Monday, the retail sales figures for February are released. Concerns about consumer resilience have grown after spending fell sharply in January and consumer confidence has waned due to tariff concerns. This week will see several reports of housing data, as real estate professionals look to the spring sales season to thaw an icy housing market.
The report on homebuilder’s confidence on Monday will come as tariffs on aluminum and steel threaten to increase construction costs. Housing starts data on February will give an indication of the pace of construction activity. The report on existing home sale will reveal if homebuying slowed down last month.
Nvidia Kicks off GTC Event. Nike, FedEx Micron, FedEx and more are set to report earnings
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who is facing market pressure due to a stock sell-off of tech stocks, will deliver remarks during the company’s conference for AI developers this week. Huang will deliver the keynote speech at 1 p.m. His remarks will be made at Nvidia’s GPU Technology Conference (also known as GTC) on Tuesday. The chipmaker is facing challenges from Chinese AI technologies like DeepSeek.
Investors will also be watching the Adobe Summit in this week to get updates on AI technology. Micron Technology, a Nvidia partner, is scheduled to report earnings on Thursday. The memory chip maker has lowered its revenue forecasts below analyst expectations due to a weaker PC replacement cycle as well as slower demand for products in the auto and industrial sectors.
Nike will also release its quarterly results on Thursday after reporting better-than expected results in the first quarter of the new CEO Elliott Hill as head of the global fashion company.
FedEx’s report is scheduled for Thursday after the shipping company announced plans late last year to spin-off its freight business as a separate publicly traded company. FedEx’s most recent earnings report lowered its outlook for the full year to flat revenue growth, as it anticipated weaker consumer demand.
Restaurants and retailers could also provide a window on the consumer’s health amid concerns about a slowdown in spending after the retail sales data for January declined. Olive Garden’s parent Darden Restaurants and discount retailers Ollie’s Bargain Outlet are expected to release their earnings reports on Thursday. General Mills’ earnings report, scheduled for Wednesday, could also provide some insight into consumer trends.
