Wednesday 21st September brings about some key economic data and press releases for investors to digest.

U.S. Existing Home Sales

Today at 3 pm (UK time) the National Association of Realtors will release the figures of US existing home sales; figures may impact the American housing market and influence the FEDs statement due later today. A rise in existing home sales could help boost the economy as it creates more jobs such as estate agents, and legal/surveyor fees and prompts purchases of new furniture, which all contribute to the GDP (as an example). The housing market is closely linked to consumer spending, if the value of the properties goes up, it allows homeowners to borrow more against the value of their home or purchase larger properties in the future.  By doing so, they are more likely to pump this back into the economy by spending it on goods or services.  If property value drops, consumer spending goes into a decline. Hence, in the prior month we have seen that the outcome of existing home sales was 4.81M, however looking at the data to be released this month, experts estimate a drop to 4.70M (investing.com).  Therefore a drop in existing home sales can negatively affect the economy and potentially create a bearish trend within the US markets.

U.S Crude Oil Inventories

The EIA (energy information administration) crude oil inventories measure the weekly change in the number of barrels of commercial crude oil held by US firms. Last week the number of barrels totalled 2.442M, and the forecast for this week is 2.161M. The level of inventories has an influence on the price of petroleum which is a factor that impacts current inflation. If the level of inventories is greater than expected, it will imply a weaker demand creating a bearish trend for crude prices and vice-versa. The upcoming FED meeting regarding rate decisions has also not done any favours for the crude market, with the majority expecting a third straight substantial rate hike for the US.

FOMC statement & FED Interest Rate Decision

A big day for the US as the FOMC will take a vote on where to set the target interest rate. Each decision-makers projections for short-term rates will signal the route of interest rates, as fears of a recession have been weighing on the stocks in recent days. Markets have already seen dips as the focus has shifted to a hawkish Fed prior to the statement release. The expectations of continued rate hikes have led investors to up their bearish bets on stocks as fears rise. Investors are predicting a 75bp increase from 2.50% to 3.25% (investing.com).