What's on the economic calendar
Retail sales for the the all-important month of December are coming up and the stakes are especially heightened after a soft November report followed by yesterday's report from Target that showed same-store sales up just 1.4% in Nov/Dec.
The US consumer carried the economy last year but there is a limit to how much individual spenders can do when companies are keeping spending tight.
The consensus for today's report is sales up 0.3% with the control group up 0.4%.
At the same time as retail sales we also get the Philly Fed, initial jobless claims, import/export price and ADP's Canadian jobs report.
At 1500 GMT US business inventories and the NAHB housing market index are due
We will hear from Lagarde at 18000 GMT.
See the economic calendar for more.
