00:00 Speaker A
Now, let’s take a look at what to expect during the week of December 29th.
00:03 Speaker A
We’ll start with the Federal Reserve. We will get the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s December Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on Tuesday.
00:08 Speaker A
Investors will be poring over the minutes to see just how divided policymakers were after announcing their third rate cut of the year earlier this month.
00:19 Speaker A
Several officials raised objections at the December meeting, but for opposite reasons, underscoring that the Fed is far from unified.
00:26 Speaker A
The key question now is how cautious policymakers will be in 2026.
00:32 Speaker A
Turning to the housing market, new pending home sales data for November will be released on Monday.
00:37 Speaker A
Economists forecast the figure at 0.8%. That’s a full percentage point lower than October’s data, indicating home sales are still growing, but at a slower pace than last month.
00:46 Speaker A
New figures suggest fewer buyers are willing or able to sign contracts amid rising mortgage rates and continued pressure.
00:54 Speaker A
And hold on to housing. On Tuesday we’ll take a closer look at home prices with the Case-Shiller Home Price Index.
01:00 Speaker A
Prices are expected to fall slightly to 0.1%, suggesting overall home prices are still rising, but not as quickly as last month.
