Stock Market Week Ahead: Fed Hosts Pivotal Decision; Nike, FedEx Earnings on Tap

investing.com:

Here's your Pro review of the main events in the stock market for the week ahead.

The Federal Reserve is scheduled to meet on March 20 to make a decision on interest rates, with widespread anticipation of no changes in rate policy just yet.

Last week, equity markets faced challenges following reports on U.S. consumer and producer prices showing persistent inflation, reducing expectations that the Fed might cut interest rates by its June meeting.

Investors will pay close attention to the Fed's projections for interest rates and statements from Fed Chair Jerome Powell for indications of upcoming monetary policy directions.

This event has the potential to severely impact S&P 500 price projections for the year. Stay tuned.

Nike (NYSE:NKE) and FedEx (NYSE:FDX) are scheduled to release their Q3 earnings on March 21, after the market close.

Wall Street is predicting an EPS of $0.75 and revenue of $12.28 billion for Nike. This week, a few analysts have revised their price targets for Nike downwards. For example, Citi adjusted its price target to $125 from $135, while still recommending a Buy.

Citi pointed out several issues Nike is currently facing, including a decline in market sentiment about its revenue outlook since its Q2 earnings announcement. Challenges such as excess inventory in North America, despite better inventory management, and persistently high promotional activities, as well as retailers' cautious ordering, were noted.

Additionally, economic instability in China and Europe, along with increased competition from Adidas (OTC:ADDYY), which is regaining market share, adds to Nike's pressures.

InvestingPro’s EPS Forecast Trend depicts the trend in analyst EPS forecasts for Nike for the upcoming quarter. Analysts have