By WSJ Staff 

A key reading on the health of the housing market comes out on Thursday of this week, and the Federal Reserve will release minutes offering insight into its recent decision to cut interest rates.

Monday: A gauge of home-builder sentiment, the National Association of Home Builders' survey, will be released ahead of the closely watched existing-home sales data later in the week. Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester is due to speak at the University of Maryland.

Tuesday: The U.S. Commerce Department releases data on housing starts, a measure of new-home construction. Economists expect starts in October climbed 3.5% from the prior month. New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams speaks Tuesday at a conference in Washington, D.C.

Wednesday: Minutes from the Federal Reserve's Oct. 29-30 policy meeting, at which the Fed cut rates by a quarter-percentage-point, are set to be released. The minutes will be reviewed for clues about the direction of future policy, although Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has signaled comfort with the central bank's current interest-rate stance in comments since the meeting.

Thursday: The Labor Department releases jobless claims, and the National Association of Realtors puts out existing-home sales data for October which are expected to show a 2.2% increase from the prior month. Recent reports have signaled lackluster performance in the housing market, due to low inventory and high prices. A speech by Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester is scheduled for Thursday morning, and Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari will speak at the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.

Friday: The University of Michigan's final consumer sentiment index for November is expected to tick slightly lower from earlier in the month. For a look at activity in two key sectors, services and manufacturing, IHS Markit will release manufacturing and services purchasing managers' indexes for both the eurozone and the U.S.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 17, 2019 15:14 ET (20:14 GMT)