It’s all about the consumer as investors sift through quarterly sales data from home improvement chains Lowe’s and Home Depot. The market will also analyze the latest housing, inflation and retail sales data.
First up is the October retail sales report which tracks food, clothing and auto sales. The last report showed a one and an half percent decline. Its biggest drop since December.
We’ll get two reads on the housing market. Let’s begin with the October housing starts report. The last report showed a 3.9 percent increase in single family starts, but this number was down twenty eight percent from a year ago. We’ll also get the latest home-builder sentiment report. The last report showed a one point dip in confidence as builders worried about the expiration of the first time home-buyer tax credit
Are consumer prices on the rise? We’ll find out with the latest consumer price index numbers. The last report showed a slight increase of point two percent driven by higher prices for medical care, new vehicles and used cars.