Social Media Reports, a Fed Policy Meeting and Third-Quarter G.D.P.

By THE NEW YORK TIMESOCT. 26, 2014

FED LIKELY TO DISCONTINUE BOND-BUYING STIMULUS

The Federal Reserve is likely to announce the end of its latest bond-buying campaign on Wednesday, after a two-day meeting of its policy-making committee. Fed officials say the program, begun in the fall of 2012, has succeeded in increasing job growth. The Fed also may update its plans for short-term interest rates, which it has held near zero since late 2008, to emphasize that the timing of a first increase depends on the strength of the economy. Most Fed officials forecast that the first increase will come around the middle of next year. 

POSITIVE EXPECTATIONS FOR THIRD-QUARTER G.D.P.

On Thursday, the Commerce Department will release its report on the gross domestic product for the third quarter. No one expects a repeat of the second quarter’s impressive 4.6 percent annualized growth rate, but several economists sounded a positive note with estimates hovering around the 3 percent mark. Forecasters sounded confident that consumer spending would remain fairly strong and, despite the stock market’s recent somersaults, keep the American economy growing through the end of the year. 

EUROZONE TO PROVIDE DATA ON INFLATION AND JOBS

Markets will be keyed to the release on Friday of Eurostat’s first estimate of October inflation in the 18-nation eurozone, along with its September employment data. With demand too weak to create inflationary pressures and the price of oil slipping, the region is at risk of sliding into outright deflation, complicating the policy choices of the European Central Bank.