Among the things to watch this week are comments from Fed Chairman Powell following this week's decision on interest rates, which the market expects to remain unchanged。

Also, this Friday is the deadline for the passage of several U.S. government spending bills, and if they fail to pass, there is a risk of a government shutdown.。

In terms of corporate earnings, companies such as Micron Technology, Nike, FedEx and Chinese electric car maker Xiaopeng will release their latest earnings this week.。Nvidia's annual GTC begins on Wednesday with founder and CEO Renxun Wong to deliver the keynote address。

Follow the interest rate dot plot and Chairman Powell's comments.

While the Fed is almost certain to leave interest rates unchanged at this week's meeting, investors are closely watching Wednesday's remarks by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.。

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is widely expected to keep the federal funds rate at 5.25% to 5.5%。According to the CME FedWatch tool, investors have a 99% chance of expecting officials to keep interest rates unchanged。FOMC officials say they need to see more progress on inflation before voting to cut rates。

With a rate cut almost ruled out at this meeting, the focus will turn to officials' economic outlook and rate cut forecasts, which will be reflected in the dot plot。Economists believe officials may cut their expectations for three rate cuts this year after higher-than-expected inflation figures last week。

Nvidia GTC is coming soon, and the B100 details are in full view.

Nvidia's upcoming annual GPU Technology Conference (GTC) will focus on details of its latest AI GPU, the B100 Blackwell, which is considered the most powerful AI processor to date.。

At the conference, Nvidia founder and CEO Huang Renxun will deliver a keynote speech, and industry leaders such as OpenAI, Microsoft, Amazon and Google will also participate in the conference。The conference is therefore an important event for AI and technology enthusiasts to look forward to, and is expected to bring a series of updates on innovations and collaborations.。

US spending bill nears deadline

Congress must pass six government spending bills by Friday to avoid the shutdown of several government agencies.。

Congress passed a short-term spending bill earlier this month to fund several agencies, and lawmakers hope to complete the 2024 budget process by agreeing to the remaining spending bills.。

The remaining bill would cover about 70 percent of government spending, including military, health, education and labor programs.。If Congress can't agree on a larger spending bill, it could also pass another temporary extension bill to avoid a shutdown.。

Reddit and Astera Labs will go public

Reddit and Astera Labs could start trading as early as this week, according to reports.。

Reddit is expected to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "RDDT," with the social media site and its investors hoping to raise as much as 7 percent in a long-awaited initial public offering (IPO)..$4.8 billion。This is Reddit's second public listing.。

Astera Labs and its investors hope to raise up to 5.$3.4 billion。The company, which provides semiconductor-based cloud computing and AI infrastructure connectivity solutions, is expected to trade on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol "ALAB."。

There will be multiple earnings reports to watch this week.

Tech, apparel makers and retailers among others will report earnings this week。

Chinese electric car maker Xiaopeng to report quarterly results on Tuesday。Micron will release earnings on Wednesday。

On Thursday, investors will also be watching Nike's earnings for signs of the footwear maker's recovery after weak demand.。Sportswear Lululemon will also follow in Nike's footsteps to release its earnings。

(The following event dates are US time)

Monday, March 18

Home Builders Confidence Index (February)

Nvidia GTC Conference

SAIC Announces Earnings

Tuesday, March 19

HealthEquity Inc.And Xiaopeng Auto Announces Financial Results

Wednesday, March 20

Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) Interest Rate Decision

Fed Chairman Powell's Press Conference

Micron Technologies, Five Below Inc., Chewy Inc., KB Home, etc. Announce Financial Results

Thursday, March 21

Initial jobless claims (week ending March 15)

Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey (March)

S & P U.S. Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) (March)

S & P U.S. Manufacturing PMI (March)

Leading U.S. Economic Indicators (February)

Existing Home Sales (February)

Accenture, Nike, FedEx and Lululemon to report earnings

Friday, March 22

Government spending bill deadline