November inflation data and a handful of earnings reports from retailers and software firms will be this week's highlights.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the consumer price index for November on Wednesday. Economists are expecting a 2.7% year-over-year rise in the headline CPI, and a 3.3% jump in the core index. The BLS will publish the producer price index for November on Thursday.
The European Central Bank is widely expected to cut its target interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point on Thursday, to 3%.
Earnings reports to watch this week will include Oracle and Toll Brothers on Monday, AutoZone and GameStop on Tuesday, and Adobe on Wednesday. Broadcom, Costco Wholesale, and RH will release results on Thursday.
Monday 12/9
Casey's General Stores, MongoDB, Oracle, and Toll Brothers release quarterly results.
Tuesday 12/10
AutoZone, Ferguson Enterprises, and GameStop announce earnings.
The National Federation of Independent Business releases its Small Business Optimism Index for November. Consensus estimate is for a 94.1 reading, slightly higher than the October reading.
Wednesday 12/11
Adobe and Nordson report quarterly results.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the consumer price index for November. Economists forecast a 2.7% year-over-year increase for the CPI, one-tenth of a percentage point more than in October. The core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, is expected to rise 3.3%, which would match the October figure. The annual change in the CPI has been less than 3% for four consecutive months, but getting to the Federal Reserve's 2% target has proven to be a challenge.
Thursday 12/12
Broadcom, Ciena, Costco Wholesale, and RH hold conference calls to discuss earnings.
The European Central Bank announces its monetary-policy decision. The ECB is widely expected to cut its key short-term interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 3%. With the recent collapse of the French government due to a no-confidence vote, economists forecast up to five quarter-point rate cuts in 2025 to prop up what was an already struggling euro-zone economy.
The BLS releases the producer price index for November. In October the PPI increased 2.4% year over year, while the core PPI rose 3.1%.
Friday 12/13
The BLS releases import and export price data for November. The consensus call is for both import and export prices to decline 0.3% month over month. This compares with gains of 0.3% and 0.8%, respectively, in October.
