US: Key Events ahead - Nomura

Analysts at Nomura take us through a series of economic events from the US docket lined up for release later in the NA session today.

Key Quotes:

“Employment cost index, Q4: Wage growth was steady in Q4 2016. On a y-o-y basis, the average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers grew 2.4% in Q4. As the labor markets tighten further, we expect wage growth to accelerate gradually.”

“Case-Shiller home price index: Home prices in urban areas increased a modest 0.63% m-o-m in October. The annual pace picked up slightly, registering 5.10% y-o-y. Firm consumer fundamentals for the housing market, coupled with constricted supply of housing units, suggest that growth in prices likely continued in November.”

“Chicago PMI: The headline index was at 53.9 in December, down from 57.2 in November. Strong readings from other regional manufacturing surveys suggest that a sharp pullback in this index may have been temporary.”

“Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence: The consumer confidence index jumped to 113.7 in December, the highest level since August 2001. Indicators for current sentiment and near-term expectations remained elevated, consistent with the relevant components in the University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey.”