Gary Siegel

Newly issued Treasury securities held in stripped form increased about $1.119 billion in February to a total of $241.062 billion, the Bureau of the Public Debt reported Monday.

It's beginning to look a lot like a March rate hike, unless there's a big shock in the next two weeks.

The U.S. services sector was up in February as the non-manufacturing business activity composite index was 57.6 in the month, compared to 56.5 in January, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Institute for Supply Management reported Friday.

A March rate hike "is on the table for discussion," Federal Reserve Board Governor Jerome Powell said in a televised interview Thursday.

"New York City purchasing managers reported slower growth while still indicating a faster pace of activity in February," as the current business conditions index decreased to 51.3 in February from 57.7 in January, the Institute for Supply Management-New York's Report on Business index, released Thursday, indicated.

The U.S. "economy expanded at a modest to moderate pace," according to the Beige Book, which was released by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday.

The overall economy grew for the ninety-third straight time, while the manufacturing sector expanded for the sixth consecutive month, the Institute for Supply Management reported Wednesday.

In a low-safe-real-interest-rate environment and with the question of how the Trump administration's policies will play out, the Federal Open Market Committee doesn't need to raise rates aggressively, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said late Tuesday.

The Federal Open Market Committee's March meeting should include a "serious" discussion of a rate hike, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President and CEO John C. Williams said Tuesday.

Three rate increases should be appropriate this year if conditions are as expected, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President and CEO Patrick Harker said Tuesday.

The directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond wanted a 25-basis-point discount rate hike to 1.5%, while the other 10 Fed banks preferred to leave the rate at 1.25%, according to minutes of the discount rate meeting, released by the Fed Tuesday.

Texas service sector activity "continued to reflect expansion in February albeit at a slower pace," according to business executives responding to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey, as the revenue index slid to 14.1 from 16.2.

Service sector activity "continued to improve in February," according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond service-sector activity survey, released Tuesday.

Manufacturing activity in the central Atlantic region "expanded in February, as shipments increased and the volume of new orders rose broadly," according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, as the manufacturing index rose to 17 in February from 12 in January.

The consumer confidence index increased to 114.8 in February from a revised 111.6 last month, The Conference Board reported Tuesday.

The Chicago Purchasing Managers' Business Barometer surged to 57.4 in February from 50.3 in January, its highest level since January 2015, the National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago said Tuesday.

The seasonally adjusted Milwaukee Report on Business declined to 58.69 in February from 59.81 in January, the Institute for Supply Management-Milwaukee reported Tuesday.

Texas factory activity, as measured by the production index, "activity increased for the eighth consecutive month in February," according to the monthly Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, released Monday.

Pending home sales decreased 2.8% to an index reading of 106.4 in January, after an upwardly revised 0.8% gain to 109.5 in December, first reported as a 1.6% gain to 109.0, according to a report released Monday by the National Association of Realtors.

The University of Michigan's final February consumer sentiment index reading was 96.3, compared to the preliminary February 95.7 and the final January 98.5, according to market sources.