It will be a quiet holiday week for investors sitting on big gains from a strong 2024. Stock and bond markets will close early on Tuesday and remain closed on Wednesday for Christmas.
There will be a handful of economic data releases to contend with before that. On Monday, the Conference Board releases its Consumer Confidence Index for December, while the Census Bureau releases the durable goods report and residential sales data for November.
However, if there is a government shutdown, economic data from the Census Bureau and other government agencies may not be released.
No major companies will report earnings during the holiday week. Fourth-quarter earnings season will unofficially kick off on Jan. 15 with results from big banks JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo.
Monday 12/23
The Conference Board releases its Consumer Confidence Index for December. Consensus estimate is for a 113 reading, 1.3 points more than November's figure, which was the highest since July of 2023.
The Census Bureau releases the durable goods report for November. New orders for manufactured durable goods are expected to decline 0.3% month over month to $285.7 billion. Excluding transportation orders are seen rising by 0.3%, after a 0.2% increase in October.
The Census Bureau reports residential sales data for November. Economists forecast a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 665,000 new single-family homes sold, about 9% more than in October. The median sales price was $437,300 in October, about 5% lower than the record of $460,300 from October 2022.
Tuesday 12/24
The Nasdaq and New York Stock Exchange have shortened trading hours on Christmas Eve, ending at 1 p.m. ET. The bond market also closes early, at 2 p.m. ET.
Wednesday 12/24
Equity and fixed-income markets are closed in observance of Christmas Day.
Thursday 12/26
The Department of Labor reports initial jobless claims for the week ending December 21. Claims have averaged 225,500 a week over the past four weeks.