- What happened last week?
A stronger economic outlook will lead to more U.S. Federal Reserve rate hikes this year, the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) January meeting showed on Wednesday.
The majority of FOMC members said that a stronger outlook for economic growth has raised the possibility that further increases in interest rates would be appropriate, according to the minutes of the Jan. 30-31 meeting in which the Fed kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged.
'Members agreed that the strengthening in the near-term economic outlook increased the likelihood that a gradual upward trajectory of the federal funds rate would be appropriate,' the minutes added.
The FOMC members also said the current pace of economic activity would increase the level of inflation this year, which would stabilize around the Fed's target of 2 percent in the medium term.
However, two FOMC members stressed their concerns over the outlook of inflation, stating they see little evidence of its improvement.
Overall, 'Several members commented that they saw both upside and downside risks to the inflation outlook, and members agreed to continue to monitor inflation developments closely,' the minutes said.
-US stock market closes with rally after Fed report
Indexes in the U.S. stock market closed with a rally on Friday after the U.S. Federal Reserve's report.
The Dow Jones jumped 347 points, or 1.4 percent, to end the day at 25,309 points, while the S&P 500 rose 43 points, or 1.6 percent, to close at 2,747 points. The Nasdaq increased 127 points, or 1.8 percent, to finish the last trading day of the week at 7,337 points.
The Dow rose 0.4 percent this week, while the S&P 500 added 0.6 percent, and the Nasdaq soared 1.4 percent.
The Fed's Monetary Policy Report released earlier indicated that the central bank does not have much incentive to make more than three rate hikes this year, which pushed investors to take a buying position in the stock market.
-S&P affirms Turkey's rating
Global agency Standard & Poor's on Friday affirmed Turkey's sovereign rating at 'BB' with a negative outlook. The agency said any changes in external financial conditions could restrict Turkey's financial and corporate sectors’ ability to roll over large external debt.
An economic slowdown could result in larger fiscal deficits and a rise in public debt and may lead the agency to lower Turkey's ratings, S&P warned.
'In addition, we could downgrade Turkey should monetary policy prove inadequate to curb inflation and currency pressures,' the agency said in a statement.
'We also consider that the composition of Turkey's external financing (mostly debt with little equity) and the use of the proceeds (primarily investment in construction and public consumption) represent a risk to its future economic and financial stability,' it added.
However, S&P said Turkey's negative outlook would be revised to stable if there is a reduction of the government's debt-to-GDP ratio inflationary abated if there is stabilization in the Turkish lira's value and growth prospects are gradually improved.
After expanding by 7 percent last year, S&P said it expects Turkey’s economy to grow by 4 percent this year and 3.2 percent next year.
-Oil rig count in US rises
The number of oil rigs in the U.S. increased by one last week, oilfield services company Baker Hughes data showed on Friday.
With that result, the number of oil rigs, which indicates the short-term change in the U.S.' oil industry, is now 799. The current level also shows approximately a 33 percent increase in the oil rig count, which stood at 602 during period last year.
The small increase in the oil rigs led to some losses in crude oil prices on Friday.
The U.S.' crude oil production decreased slightly in the previous week, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday.
Crude output in the country fell by one thousand barrels per day (bpd) to 10.27 million bpd for the week ending Feb. 16, the EIA data showed.
The U.S.' crude oil production is expected to average 10.6 million bpd this year and to reach 11.2 million bpd next year to surpass Russia, according to the EIA's Short-Term Energy Outlook for February.
-What to expect this week?
The most important development this week that investors and marketwill follow is the U.S.' gross domestic data for fourth quarter of 2017, which will be released on Wednesday.
The American economy grew at an annual rate of 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, according to preliminary data released at the end of January. However, this level was below the President Donald Trump's target of 3 percent.
Personal income and spending for January will be announced on Thursday.
Non-farm payrolls and unemployment rate for February will be released on Friday. The American economy added 200,000 jobs in January and is now expected to add 180,000 new jobs in February.
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard and the Fed Governor Randal Quarles will speak on Monday.
The Fed President Jerome Powell will appear before the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee on Tuesday and before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee on Thursday. Powell will talk about the Fed's Monetary Policy Report that was released on Friday.
On Thursday, New York Fed President William Dudley will make a speech in Brazil.
Change in the U.S.' crude oil production and inventories will be announced on Wednesday, while the change in the U.S.' oil rig count will be out on Friday.