Financial markets usually slow down in the summer. But the coming week could provide some indication of how the rest of the quarter will pan out. The Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision will take center stage and along with the U.S. second-quarter growth report investors should have a better idea of what the rest of 2015 will look like.

According to IG's market strategist Bernard Aw, “The key event is without dispute the FOMC [Federal Open Market Committee] decision on Wednesday. While almost no one is expecting the Fed to raise interest rates in its July meeting, everyone is watching for their comments, particularly on the economic and inflation outlook.”

Data on durable and capital goods orders will be released along with the FOMC report which should help get more of a handle on whether the Fed will raise interest as expected in early September.

Also scheduled for release on Friday is the closely-monitored consumer price index (CPI) which is expected to be flat.

Dow Down, S&P Little Changed

The Dow fell 2.9 per cent last week and Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures were little changed after a slump in U.S. stocks Friday. Oil is down to a 13-year low in New York and Gold is trading near a five-year low. The dollar weakened against most major peers, dropping close to 0.2 per cent against the yen and the euro.

Meanwhile, Asian markets got off to a slow start with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropping 0.4 percent to 141.95 overnight. China reports on industrial company profits are out Monday which are expected to point to continued slowdown in Asia's largest economy.