WASHINGTON (AP) — Encouraging news from Europe helped ignite stock prices in October. This week, investors will shift their focus to U.S. economic data, which might temper their exuberance.
Three events this week will command attention: the U.S. jobs report for October, the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s quarterly news conference.
A report Thursday showed that the U.S. economy expanded at a solid 2.5 annual rate in the July-September quarter. That helped ease concerns that another recession might be nearing. Yet the news may have also raised unrealistic expectations about the economy. Investors could end up disappointed.
“There’s a big difference between avoiding recession and stronger growth,” said Eric Green, chief U.S. economist at TD Securities. “The economic data will be OK, but it’s not going to be a catalyst to move stocks up” significantly.
Last week, investors were cheered by the deal European leaders reached Thursday. European
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