Reports today

Nikkei slid -1,79% and Europe is in red territory today. Down today after rising up some days now. Europe is down because of some disappointed earnings from blue-chips companies.

New reports today is among others; retail sales which is Business inventories that are the dollar amount of inventories held by manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers. The level of inventories in relation to sales is an important indicator of the near-term direction of production activity.

Inventories tend to rise when economic conditions are strong; since sales are rising at the same time, the inventory-to- sales ratio may remain stable, or rise at a very slow pace. Inventories tend to drop when economic conditions are weak; since sales are falling at the same time, the inventory-to-sales ratio may remain relatively stable. The I- S ratio then begins to rise as sales fall more quickly than inventory growth. Data Source: Haver Analytics.

Market Consensus before announcement

Business inventories in November were up 0.4 percent versus a strong 0.8 percent rise in business sales, the strongest sales gain since May, that left the stock-to-sales ratio unchanged at 1.29. Retail inventories, the second largest component of the report and the fresh data in the latest report, likewise showed no change with the stock-to-sales ratio steady at 1.43.

Jobless claims
New unemployment claims are compiled weekly to show the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time. An increasing (decreasing) trend suggests a deteriorating (improving) labor market. The four-week moving average of new claims smoothes out weekly volatility.

Weekly series fluctuate more dramatically than monthly series even when the series are adjusted for seasonal variation. The 4-week moving average gives a better perspective on the underlying trend.
Data Source: Haver Analytics

Market Consensus before announcement

Initial jobless claims for the February 1 week fell a sharp 20,000 to a lower-than-expected 331,000. The 4-week average, at 334,000, trended 15,000 below the month-ago comparison.

Continuing claims, however, did not show improvement. Continuing claims for the January 25 week rose 15,000 to 2.964 million with the 4-week average up 26,000 to a 2.986 million level that was more than 100,000 above the month-ago trend.

Reports today:

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