What to watch this week on Wall Street

This holiday-shortened week will witness key economic events, such as Factory Orders Data, Initial Jobless Claims, and Consumer Credit releases in the United States. These events will add to the spotlight on the Fed, with several FOMC speakers making speeches and the Fed’s Beige Book for September scheduled to be released.

Most bets indicate a 6% probability of an interest rate increase of 25 points at the next Fed meeting scheduled for September 19-20, while trading on the fed funds contract implies a probability of just under 35% that an interest rate hike of either 25 to 50 basis points will take place before or at the November meeting.

The energy market could be shaken after details are released on Russia’s new OPEC+ supply cut agreement.

The corporate calendar is very active, with the Goldman Sachs Technology Conference, Roblox Developers conference, Citi Global Technology Conference, Barclays Global Consumer Staples Conference, and Intuit Innovation Day being some of the key events. The US market will be closed on Monday inobservance of Labour Day, with updates on the services sector.

Fed’s latest Beige Book report, and a smattering of corporate earnings serving as highlights in the week ahead. Stocks closed out the last week of August in rally mode after falling for much of the month. The Nasdaq Composite led gains, rising more than 3% last week, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) gained 2.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged its peers, rising 1.4%. On Wednesday, investors will have the busiest schedule as service sector readings from S&P Global and the Institute for Supply Management are due out in the morning, while the Fed’s Beige Book will come out that afternoon.

Kroger, GameStop, and Zscaler highlight a subdued week of quarterly reports. The August jobs report offered the latest evidence the US labor market continues to slow, with the US economy creating 187,000 new jobs last month and the unemployment rate unexpectedly rising to 3.8% as more Americans sought employment. This data runs as a sign the Fed will elect not to raise rates at the conclusion of its September 19-20 policy meeting. Despite developments in the economy may be favorable for the Fed, those looking at the seasonal forces in play for the stock market may find fewer positives in the coming week.