The week picks up
A light economic calendar has helped North American traders ease into the week but it heats up in the hours ahead.
At 10 am ET (1500 GMT), two reports are due out. The first is construction spending for November and it's forecast to rise 0.5% after a 1.4% climb in October. It's a big component of GDP but not necessarily a market mover.
At the same time, it's likely to be overshadowed by the December ISM manufacturing survey. Yesterday's numbers from Markit were solid so there is a slight upward bias to the 58.2 consensus estimate. Also watch prices paid, which are a sign of inflation and were at 65.5 in November.
The economic calendar then goes quiet until 2 pm ET (1900 GMT) when the December FOMC meeting minutes are released. More colour on the inflation outlook would be welcome but the market will take everything with a grain of salt until Powell takes over (which is one month from today).
Finally, December auto sales numbers are due throughout the day. The total sales tally from Wards is forecast at a 17.5m pace.
