Fed Rate Decision, Dreamforce Headline Week's Market Catalysts — SkimNews
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- Federal Reserve concludes its two-day policy meeting Wednesday afternoon with a rate decision, following last week's slightly hotter-than-expected 0.3% monthly gain in August core CPI.
- August retail sales data arrives Wednesday morning, significant because consumer spending accounts for roughly two-thirds of U.S. GDP according to the source.
- August housing starts and pending home sales reports land Thursday, though the source notes the data will not capture last week's spike in 30-year fixed-rate mortgages above 7%.
- August industrial production and capacity utilization data is scheduled for Friday, providing a read on the state of U.S. manufacturing.
- Dreamforce 2026 runs Tuesday through Thursday in San Francisco, drawing tens of thousands of clients and vendors, with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff delivering the keynote at 1 p.m. ET Tuesday.
- Salesforce shares are up 50% over the past three months and nearly back to break-even year-to-date as investor concerns about AI disruption to enterprise software have eased.
- Club companies including Cardinal Health, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, Wells Fargo, Honeywell, Home Depot, GE Vernova, Eaton, Boeing, and Goldman Sachs are slated to present at Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, and Laguna conferences across the week.
Why it matters: With markets pricing near 90% odds of a Fed rate hike Wednesday after August core CPI rose 0.3%, Wednesday's retail sales release will indicate whether consumer strength — two-thirds of GDP — supports further tightening. Salesforce's Dreamforce keynote adds a parallel catalyst for enterprise software investors, with shares up 50% over three months heading into the event.
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