Tuesday: A Little Retail Fun
Economic data will ease back into the workweek Tuesday like much of America after the long Presidents Day weekend.
Tuesday will offer the
LJR/Redbook Research
retail sales report. Aside from that weekly staple, the U.S. government will auction $26 billion three- and six-month bills.
Friday's numbers were enough of a feast. The
Producer Price Index
surprised economists by falling 0.3%, when a 0.3% rise was expected. The core number, which excludes food and energy, held even with December at 0.1%, modestly below expectations.
Still, the chin-scratchers were wary.
"That report had better frosting than cake," said Robert Brusca, chief economist at
Nikko Securities
in New York. He compiles an index that pits the number of sectors with price increases against those with decreases. Out of the 74 groups in the index, more gained than lost. Brusca said that means the PPI number was dominated by the drastic fall in food prices, which are declining at more than a 12% annual rate.
Yet he doesn't expect the
Federal Reserve
to raise interest rates at its March meeting. "Unless we get a disastrous
CPI
number, most people aren't looking for a rate hike." Watch for the all-important CPI on Wednesday.
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Also reported Friday:
U.S. business inventories
fell 0.1% in December. Economists had been expecting a 0.2% dip.
Industrial production
was unchanged from December.
Capacity utilization
was 83.3% in January, or down 0.2% from December. The University of Michigan's mid-February
Consumer Sentiment Index
was 97.4%, even with January.
Tuesday's numbers
:
Treasury auctions
(1 p.m. EST): $26 billion three- and six-month bills.
LJR/Redbook Research
report (2:55 p.m. EST): Retail sales report for the week ending Feb. 15.
By Suzanne Kapner
skapner@thestreet.com
