The markets opened on Monday shrugging aside the weekend news on the targeted air strikes by the U.S. and its allies on Syria. Lack of response from Russian authorities saw the markets gaining risk appetite.
On the economic front, the day was relatively quiet. U.S. retail sales report released showed a 0.6% jump in retail sales on the month in March. This beat analysts’ forecasts of a 0.4% increase. Core retail sales excluding autos and gasoline sales rose 0.2% on the month as expected. Other data during the day included the U.S. Empire State Manufacturing index which fell to 15.8 missing forecasts of 19.8 and easing sharply from 22.5 that was seen previously.
Looking ahead, the economic data today will see the release of the UK jobs report. The unemployment rate is expected to remain steady at 4.3% while wage growth is expected to accelerate. Later in the week, the UK’s inflation report will be released which will show if wage growth has managed to catch up with the strong pace of inflation increase.
In the NY trading session, the building permits data will be coming out alongside the industrial production figures. FOMC members, Williams, Bostic and Quarles are expected to speak later in the day.
