A look at some of the key business events and economic indicators upcoming Next week.
Next Week: Trade balance, Fed policy meeting, consumer credit
A look at some of the key business events and economic indicators upcoming Next week.
By The Associated Press
November 1, 2024 at 5:03PM
OUT OF BALANCE
The Commerce Department releases its latest monthly tally of the nation's trade gap Tuesday.
The gap between the value of goods and services the U.S. sells abroad and what it buys narrowed in August to $70.4 billion. Exports of aircraft, computer accessories, cars and other goods rose 2%. Imports of goods fell 0.9%, while demand for US services like travel rose. Economists predict the U.S. trade gap widened slightly to $72.7 billion in September.
Trade balance, monthly, billions of dollars, seasonally adjusted:
April -74.9
May -75.3
June -73.0
July -78.9
Aug. -70.4
Sept. (est.) -72.7
Source: FactSet
THE FED SPEAKS
Federal Reserve officials wrap up a two-day meeting and issue an interest rate policy update Thursday.
At their last meeting Sept. 18, Fed officials reduced the central bank's main interest rate to 4.8%, from a two-decade high of 5.3%, and penciled in two more quarter-point rate cuts in November and December. However, a string of stronger-than-expected reports on the U.S. economy in recent weeks could influence how deeply the Fed will ultimately cut rates.
JUST CHARGE IT
The Federal Reserve issues its latest tally of U.S. consumer borrowing Thursday.
The tally is expected to show consumer borrowing rose by $11.6 billion in September. That would follow an increase of $8.9 billion in August. Total consumer debt has risen to more than $5 trillion.
Consumer credit, monthly change, seasonally adjusted, billions of dollars:
April 1.6
May 9.6
June 3.2
July 26.6
Aug. 8.9
Sept. (est.) 11.6
Source: FactSet
about the writer
The Associated Press
The Associated PressAmazon led U.S. stock indexes higher, while a surprisingly weak jobs report marred by some unusual occurrences cemented bets on Wall Street for another cut to interest rates next week. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% Friday and recovered some of its loss from the day before, which was its worst in eight weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7%, and the Nasdaq composite added 0.8%. Amazon rallied after delivering a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Treasury yields pushed higher after initially falling following the jobs report, which was distorted by some unusual occurrences.