Negative mood ahead of the data
The economic calendar features a few highlights today, including some top tier data.
The first event is Canadian retail sales for November. We've already had Dec US sales so this is a bit dated but it will also include an early look at the December Canadian number. It will be interesting to contrast these numbers to the US, where stimulus ran off in Nov/Dec while it continued strong in Canada. The consensus is for a flat reading.
At 1445 GMT, the US manufacturing and services PMIs from Markit are due and forecast at 56.5 and 53.4, respectively. These will likely be market moves, especially after the very soft UK services number.
Fifteen minutes later, it's onto the December US existing home sales numbers. All the US housing data has been strong this week and there is good reason to think this one will beat the 6.56m consensus.
At 1600 GMT, the weekly US oil inventory data will be out. It was delayed this week and is expected to show a 1675K draw.
After a busy week of central banks, it's quiet on that front today. For more, see the economic calendar.
