The Week Ahead

LEADING INDICATORS

Monday, Sept. 23, 10 a.m. EDT -- The Conference Board's August composite index of leading economic indicators is forecast to have increased by 0.1%, following a 0.4% decline during July. That's according to the median forecast of economists surveyed by MMS International.FOMC MEETING

Tuesday, Sept. 24, 9 a.m. EDT -- The Federal Reserve Board's Open Market Committee will meet to set monetary policy. All economists surveyed by MMS International expect the Fed will leave the federal funds rate at 1.75%.CONSUMER CONFIDENCE

Tuesday, Sept. 24, 10 a.m. EDT -- The Conference Board's September confidence index most likely inched a little higher, to 93.6.EXISTING HOME SALES

Wednesday, Sept. 25, 10 a.m. EDT -- August sales of existing homes were probably unchanged at a 5.33 million annual rate. Resales are on a record pace of 5.61 million this year.DURABLE GOODS ORDERS

Thursday, Sept. 26, 8:30 a.m. EDT -- New orders for durable goods are forecast to have fallen by 1.4% in August. The drop follows an 8.7% jump in July, which was led by a surge in aircraft bookings.NEW RESIDENTIAL SALES

Thursday, Sept. 26, 10 a.m. EDT -- New single-family home sales in August most likely cooled to an annual rate of 989,000 homes. In July, sales topped the 1 million mark, putting new home sales on a record pace as well.