# Fed minutes, retail earnings to drive Wall Street week ahead 2026-08-16T19:41:07+00:00 | Business & Economy | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Wall Street investors will focus on the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting and quarterly results from major US retailers in the coming week. The minutes, due on Wednesday, may offer clues on the central bank's thinking on interest rates, including whether a rate increase remains possible in September. Expectations for a hike have weakened after softer-than-expected US employment data and a modest easing in inflation, with money markets pricing just a 27% probability of a 25-basis-point increase at the next meeting, according to LSEG data. Quarterly results from retailers including Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Costco, Kroger and Albertsons will provide insights into consumer spending and the health of the US economy. Several economic reports are also due, including preliminary US purchasing managers' data for August, the Empire State and Philadelphia Fed manufacturing surveys, and July data on industrial production and housing starts. The Treasury will auction $16 billion of 20-year bonds on Wednesday and $8 billion of 30-year TIPS on Thursday. Last week, US stocks retreated from all-time highs on Friday after weak retail sales data and higher crude oil prices. The S&P 500 fell 0.2% to 7,785.76, the Dow lost 0.2% to 53,732.41, and the Nasdaq dropped 0.3% to 26,729.16. For the week, the S&P 500 rose 0.4%, the Dow fell 0.6%, and the Nasdaq gained 0.1%. ## Coverage - livemint.com This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Costco, Federal Reserve, Home Depot, Target, Walmart Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/fed-minutes-retail-earnings-to-drive-wall-street-week-ahead/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/fed-minutes-retail-earnings-to-drive-wall-street-week-ahead/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/