Top 5 things to watch in markets in the week ahead

investing.com:

Investing.com — Wednesday’s minutes of the Federal Reserve’s July meeting will be closely watched as investors look for guidance on the near-term path of interest rates. Retail sales data and retail earnings will give insights into the health of consumer spending while data out of China is expected to underline concerns over the faltering recovery in the world’s number two economy. Here’s what you need to know to start your week.

Before markets start turning their attention to the Fed’s annual get together in Jackson Hole, Wyoming at the end of the month, investors will be focusing on Wednesday’s minutes from the central bank’s July policy meeting.

The Fed raised rates by 25 basis points last month and left the door open to another hike in September. The minutes will help investors gauge the appetite for furtherrate increases, although markets are betting on a pause in September.

Data last week showed that while U.S. consumer and producer prices increased moderately in July the overall trend indicated that inflationary pressures are easing.

The U.S. central bank has increased interest rates by 5.25 percentage points since March 2022 to bring inflation back down to its 2% goal.

The U.S. is to release July retail sales data on Tuesday which is expected to show a pickup in demand at the start of the third quarter after a smaller-than-expected increase in June.

Other data is expected to indicate that the manufacturing sector is still struggling — the Empire State manufacturing index is expected to fall into negative territory, while the Philly Fed manufacturing index is expected to remain in negative territory.

Data on the housing sector is expected to be more positive with reports on building permits and housing starts on