EQUITY MARKETS
US
(S&P500 +1.57%(2,786.24); NASDAQ +1.74% (7,261.06); DJIA +2.01% (25,803.19
This week’s reports:
- December’s CPI rose 2.1% y/y versus November’s +2.2% y/y. CPI ex Food and Energy rose 1.8% y/y versus November’s +1.7% y/y.
- November’s Consumer Credit rose by $27.95 billion, the most since 2001, from October’s increase of $20.53 billion. The surge in credit was led by revolving credit which rose by $11.2 billion, the most in a year; although non-revolving debt also registered its biggest gain since Oct. 2016.
- December’s Retail Sales rose 0.4% from November’s +0.9%. Retail Sales ex. Autos rose 0.4% from November’s +1.3%.
- November’s Wholesale Inventories rose 0.8% from October’s +0.7%. Business Inventories rose 0.4% from October’s -0.1%.
- Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending January 5th rose by 11K to 261K. Continuing Jobless Claims for the week ending December 29th fell by 35K to 1,867K.
US stocks rose to records as retail sales sparked optimism in the economy and JPMorgan Chase signaled tax cuts will bolster profits. The S&P 500 Index capped a weekly increase that took its gain this year past 4%.