General Mills, FOMC: Tomorrow's Headliners

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The Federal Reserve's latest statement on interest rate policy and earnings from General Mills (GIS Quote) will be in focus during Wednesday's trading session.

The Federal Open Market Committee, the central bank's policy-making arm, will release its statement on interest rates when it concludes its two-day meeting Wednesday at 2:15 p.m. EDT. Investors will also watch to see if the FOMC will reiterate comments Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke made last week that the recession is likely "technically" over.

Following the latest reads on the government's consumer price index and producer price index, as well as rising commodity prices, inflation watchers will also wait to see what the Fed's statement will include on the central bank's exit strategy.

In other government news, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is set to testify before the House Financial Services Committee, offering his views on financial regulatory reform. His testimony comes a little more than a week after President Obama spoke at Federal Hall in New York about his plans for changes to regulation.

On the earnings front, General Mills is expected to report a quarterly profit of $1.03 a share on revenue of $3.49 billion, according to a survey of analysts by Thomson Reuters.

In addition to General Mills, AutoZone (AZO Quote) will report quarterly results before the start of trading, while Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY Quote) and Paychex (PAYX Quote) report after Wednesday's closing bell.

Investors will also be focusing on the Energy Department's weekly inventory report, due at 10:30 a.m. EDT. Crude oil inventories likely fell by 1.4 million barrels last week, which would be the fourth straight decline, a Bloomberg survey of analysts shows. Gasoline inventories should increase by 200,000 barrels, and distillate stockpiles probably increased by 1.2 million barrels, according to the survey.

-- Written by Robert Holmes in New York.