Testing time ahead due to Fed meeting, N Korea

SEVERAL events are likely to test the stock market this week, but none quite as significantly as the US central bank's policy meeting and persisting geopolitical fears fuelled by North Korea's latest provocation.

Wall Street's bull market appears to be raging on with the S&P 500 index surging past the 2,500 mark for the first time with a 0.2 per cent gain last Friday, alongside 0.3 per cent gains in the Dow Jones (record highs) and Nasdaq Composite indices.

US equities appeared unmoved by North Korea's decision to fire a missile over Japan and had also shrugged off the unexpected drop in US retail sales in August and the first drop in industrial output since January that were partly a result of the hurricanes.