This week: Home Depot earnings, home sales, Fed minutes
Feb 20, 2023, 11:00 PM | Updated: 11:03 pm
A look at some of the key business events and economic indicators upcoming this week:
HOUSING SLOWDOWN
The National Association of Realtors on Tuesday releases its existing home sales report for January.
Sales of previously occupied homes in the U.S. have declined for 11 months in a row, almost in lockstep with the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes that started last March. NAR reported last month that existing U.S. home sales totaled 5.03 million last year, a 17.8% decline from 2021 and the weakest year for home sales since 2014.
Existing home sales, in millions, seasonally adjusted annual rate:
Aug. 4.78
Sept. 4.71
Oct. 4.43
Nov. 4.08
Dec. 4.02
Jan. (est.) 4.09
Source: FactSet
HOME DEPOT RESULTS
Home Depot reports its fiscal fourth-quarter results Tuesday.
The Atlanta-based home improvement chain easily beat Wall Street’s profit and revenue expectations in the third quarter, but investors were spooked after the company stuck by earlier projections that sales would grow about 3% for 2022. Analysts expect the company to post profit of $3.28 per share for the period on sales of $36 billion.
FED MEETING MINUTES
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday releases minutes from its policy meeting earlier this month.
After its first two-day meeting of the year, the Fed announced it was raising its key interest rate by another quarter point while acknowledging that even though inflation is easing, it remains high enough to require further rate hikes. The central bank’s benchmark rate is now in a range of 4.5% to 4.75%, the highest in 15 years.
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