Wall St Week Ahead: All eyes on inflation, Fed meeting

Plenty of investors believe strong corporate results and a relatively benign macroeconomic environment can keep supporting stocks.

NEW YORK: Investors will closely watch next week’s inflation numbers and Federal Reserve meeting for clues on whether the soft landing hopes that drove stocks to record highs are still justified.

This year's rally has lifted the S&P 500 up more than 12% year-to-date, on expectations the Fed can cool inflation without hurting growth. Yet recent economic data have sent conflicting signals: US employment numbers released Friday were far stronger than expected, while earlier reports showed a slowdown in manufacturing and a first-quarter growth rate revised lower.