Last week, stock markets mainly demonstrated sideways movement. The main event - the meeting of the US Federal Reserve on the interest rate - turned out to be of little importance. The regulator left it unchanged, and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell confirmed his earlier wait-and-see stance. This week, Powell will again be in the center of Wall Street's attention: he will address the U.S. Congress with a report on monetary policy after President Donald Trump once again called for the Fed to cut rates, writes Barron's.

The key macroeconomic publication of the week will be the May US Personal Consumption Expenditures Index, a key inflation indicator for the Fed. In terms of corporate reporting, the week is expected to be relatively quiet, accounts Barron's: but American FedEx, Micron and Nike will reveal their financial results. In London, the focus will be on earnings data from defense Babcock International, whose shares have been rising this year on hopes of increased government defense spending, передает Yahoo Finance. 

On Monday, June 23, S&P Global will release the June manufacturing and services business activity indices (PMI). The consensus forecast calls for a reading of 51 for the manufacturing index and 52.9 for the services sector. Both indices are about one point below May's values. Although the S&P index is less popular than the ISM PMI, the data «will attract the attention of market participants watching the U.S. economy,» the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Investec.

KB Home will release its quarterly financial report.

On Tuesday, June 24, Fed Chairman Powell will deliver his semi-annual report on monetary policy to the House of Representatives. The next day, he will present the same report in the Senate. The expected question from congressmen to Powell is why he still hasn't cut interest rates, notes Barron's.

Conference Board will present the June index of consumer confidence in the United States. It is expected to rise to 99 points - one higher than in May. The index rebounded sharply last month after five months of decline, helped by easing trade risks.

S&P CoreLogic will release April's Case-Shiller index of home prices for the 20 largest U.S. cities. It fell 0.3% in March from the previous month, the first drop since January 2023.

Carnival and FedEx will report last quarter's earnings.

On Wednesday, June 25, the U.S. Census Bureau will release new home sales statistics for May. According to the consensus forecast, the volume will amount to 691 thousand homes in annualized terms, which is 52 thousand less than in April.

General Mills, Micron and Babcock International will report their financial results.

On Thursday, June 26, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) will release its third and final estimate of U.S. GDP growth for the first quarter. The market forecast the world's largest economy shrank 0.2% on an annualized basis - unchanged from the preliminary estimate - amid a record foreign trade deficit.

McCormick, Nike and Walgreens Boots Alliance will report quarterly earnings.

On Friday, June 27, the BEA will release the personal consumption expenditure (PCE) price index for May. The forecast is for a 2.3% annualized increase, 0.2 percentage points above April's level. Core PCE (excluding food and energy prices) is expected at 2.6% vs. 2.5% a month earlier, the slowest rate of growth since March 2021. Core PCE is the Fed's preferred measure of inflation and can give the market a clue about a possible interest rate change.

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