* Major U.S. stock indexes modestly red; small caps underperform
* Materials weakest major S&P sector; energy leads gainers
* Euro STOXX 600 index up ~0.2%
* Dollar ~flat; gold off, crude up; bitcoin down slightly
* U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield ~1.50%
June 15 - Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of markets brought to you by Reuters reporters. You can share your thoughts with us at markets.research@thomsonreuters.com
NEW YORK APARTMENT RENTS POP AS BANKS DIS REMOTE WORK (1045 EDT/1445 GMT
Perhaps bankers in the Big Apple didn't get the memo on remote work, or are hearing a different tune than big tech on the West Coast.
While all gateway markets are showing signs of recovery in apartment rentals, some are recovering faster than others, with a notable difference between New York and Seattle and San Francisco, according to Yardi Matrix.
Apartment rents increased 3.4% on a month-over-month basis in New York in May, well above the other top 30 U.S. metro areas that Yardi tracks in its National Multifamily Report.
Seattle and San Francisco rebounded, but only at 0.2% and 0.3% growth month over month, respectively, said Yardi, which researches U.S. commercial real estate.
The difference could be due to the type of industries in the three cities and their return-to-work plans, Yardi said.
New York banks are requiring employees to return to the office this summer, while tech workers in Seattle and San Francisco are more likely to be able to work on a hybrid or fully remote schedule, Yardi said.
James Gorman, chief executive at Morgan Stanley , said Monday that if most employees are not back at the bank's Manhattan headquarters in September, he will be "very disappointed."
Facebook Inc said last week it was opening up remote work as an option to all levels of employees across the company, starting on Tuesday, and expects to reopen all its U.S. offices by October.
Alphabet Inc's Google and Microsoft Corp , have given employees options to choose their work location and remote work preferences.
Multifamily rents rose 2.5% year-over-year in May to almost exactly where rent growth was in March 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic hit, Yardi said.
Rents grew $12 in May to $1,428, the largest one-month increase in Yardi's data set history, it said.
(Herbert Lash)
*****
DATA ROUND ONE: RETAIL SALES, PPI, EMPIRE STATE (1000 EDT/1400 GMT)
An onslaught of reports unleashed on Tuesday suggests an economy entering a new phase of recovery from the pandemic recession, with freshly-jabbed consumers leaving their houses to find inflation running hotter than the weather.
Sales at U.S. retailers fell 1.3% last month according to the Commerce Department, steeper than the anticipated 0.8% drop, reversing April's upwardly-revised 0.9% gain.
In part, the decline reflects consumer demand pivoting back from goods to customer-facing services as more Americans are inoculated and taking advantage of lifting social distancing restrictions.
Receipts at bars/restaurants and department stores, for example, jumped by 1.8% and 1.6%, respectively, and gasoline sales rose by 0.7%.
On the other hand, sales of home improvement goods plunged by 5.9% and home electronics slid 3.4%.
The overall pullback suggests a "satiated demand for goods" as "higher prices weighed on consumers’ buying attitudes," writes Gregory Daco, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics.
"While some will interpret this as a sign of wary households," Daco adds, the report signals "ongoing demand rotation as vaccinated consumers splurge on services.
Core retail sales, which excludes autos, gasoline, building materials and food services - and corresponds closely with the personal consumption component of GDP - dropped by 0.7%.
A report from the Labor Department showed the producer price index (PPI) - or the prices U.S. goods makers get for their wares at the factory loading dock - rose at a faster pace in May than analysts expected.
Monthly headline PPI rose by 0.8%, running hotter than the 0.6% growth projected by economists.
On an annual basis, core PPI - which strips out food, energy and trade services - accelerated to 5.3% from April's 4.6% pace.
"Headline, core and core ex-trade services prices are well above the 2% target," notes Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics. "However, the Fed is expected to continue to view building pressures as transient."
The graphic below shows how year-over-year core PPI stacks up among other major indicators relative to the Fed's average annual 2% target:
The demand U-turn away from goods back to services appears to be showing itself in data from the New York Fed, which showed manufacturing activity in New York State stepped on the brakes in May.
The New York Federal Reserve's Empire State index
plunged nearly seven points to a reading of 17.4, well below the 23 consensus.
An Empire State number above zero signifies increased activity over the previous month.
"Manufacturing is doing well, but activity is no longer accelerating," says Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
But Shepherdson outpoints unfilled orders and prices paid components "suggests a marginal easing of supply constraints," a welcome development amid the ongoing demand/supply imbalance.
But Tuesday isn't done with us. Industrial production, inventories and homebuilder sentiment remain on tap.
Investors were taking a breather out of the starting gate, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq slipping back from Monday's record closing highs.
(Stephen Culp)
*****
S&P 500: SLEEPWALKING (0900 EDT/1300 GMT)
The S&P 500 posted another record close on Monday. While only about halfway into June, that marked its 29th record-high finish so far this year vs 33 for all of 2020.
Despite the levitation, SPX action in many ways has grown zombie-like. Monday's range as a percentage of the prior session's close was just 0.51%. With this, nearly half of the 18 smallest daily ranges so far this year, have occurred in the past 13 trading days. For the week, the SPX is on track for its tightest range since September 22, 2017.
Meanwhile, volatility close-to-close, on a weekly basis, has contracted to its lowest level since mid-January 2020, or roughly one month ahead of the February 2020 market top:
Implied volatility has also recently collapsed. The CBOE Volatility Index ended last Friday at its lowest level since February 20, 2020, or one day after the SPX's February 19, 2020 peak.
Thus, with significant event risks this week in the form of the FOMC Meeting results on Wednesday , and a quadruple-witching Friday , the benchmark index appears especially ripe for much more spirited action.
It now remains to be seen whether the SPX will soon begin a well-rested sprint, or if it will be shaken from its slumber by something that goes bump in the night.
(Terence Gabriel)
*****
FOR TUESDAY'S LIVE MARKETS' POSTS PRIOR TO 0900 EDT/1300 GMT - CLICK HERE:
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ SPX06152021 Retail sales Inflation Empire State
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
(Terence Gabriel is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)