There are still a few important statistics to follow on Wall Street, at the end of this week marked above all by the confirmation hearings of…
(Boursier.com) — There are still a few important statistics to follow on Wall Street, at the end of this week marked above all by the confirmation hearings of Jerome Powell and Lael Brainard. The president and the future vice-president of the Fed were rather nuanced, but all the same indicate that the priority for the American central bank is for the moment the fight against inflation, which is at a peak of almost 40 years. in the USA. The Fed’s accelerated tapering is therefore confirmed. It will be followed by three or four rate hikes this year, the first being expected in March, barring a financial accident or major adverse event. The reduction in the size of the Fed’s balance sheet, which doubled during the pandemic, is also on the agenda in a later phase.
On the economic front in the United States this Friday, the news will be dominated by December retail sales – expected to be stable according to FactSet compared to the previous month and up 0.2% excluding autos (+0.1% excluding automobile and gasoline). These consumption figures will be revealed at 2:30 p.m.
Import and export prices for the month of December will be known at the same time (FactSet consensus +0.1% on import prices compared to the previous month, +0.3% on export).
Industrial production for December will be revealed at 3:15 p.m. by the Fed (consensus +0.3% compared to the previous month, +0.5% for manufacturing production and 77% capacity utilization rate).
Business inventories and sales for the month of November will be announced at 4 p.m. (consensus +1.3% on inventories compared to the previous month).
The University of Michigan’s preliminary consumer sentiment index for the month of January 2022 will finally be released at 4 p.m. (consensus 70).
The Fed’s Patrick Harker and John Williams will speak during the day. Harker runs the Philadelphia branch and Williams the New York branch.
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