As we approach the start of the holiday-shortened trading week, stock futures are pointing to a negative open for the major indexes. In overnight trading, markets in Asia closed mostly down, and the major European exchanges are in negative territory. Elsewhere, oil prices have moved higher, with West Texas Intermediate up about 0.4%, to around $73.00 a barrel.
Earnings season picks up some steam this week. Notably, investors will get to pore over reports from more than two dozen banks, which should give further details on the state of the consumer, particularly in regards to debt levels and delinquencies.
On Wednesday, the Census Bureau will release its U.S. retail sales data for December. The important holiday numbers should provide another key snapshot on how consumers are faring. Consensus is calling for an uptick of around 0.4%, versus the 0.3% gain recorded in November. Meanwhile, the so-called “core” number, which excludes automobiles, is expected to match the month before, with a gain of 0.2%. That same day we’ll also get the Federal Reserve’s December figures on U.S. manufacturing production. Wall Street is calling for a flat month-to-month reading, compared to a 0.3% increase in November. Also due will be the release of the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, which will provide an update on current economic trends ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC’s) next meeting at the end of January.
Looking to the rest of the week, the Census Bureau will release the December totals for housing starts on Thursday. Analysts are looking for the annualized rate to slip to about 1.439 million, versus 1.560 million the month before. We will also get the figure for building permits. Wall Street is calling for that forward-looking measure to show an uptick to 1.470 million, versus 1.467 million in November.
Additionally, the Department of Labor will issue its weekly report on initial jobless claims, which are widely expected to increase to 207,000, versus the previous reading of 202,000. Lastly, the National Association of Realtors will report existing home sales for last month, which are widely expected to show an annualized reading of around 3.82 million, matching November’s tally. - Mario Ferro
At the time of this article’s writing, the author did not have positions in any of the companies mentioned.
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