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:

“Initial jobless claims: Initial jobless claims have been on a downtrend for a while. The four-week average of this series has been low, despite some weekly volatility in claims during holiday seasons. This trend suggests that involuntary layoffs remain low as businesses become more inclined to hold on to existing employees. We expect this data to remain steady in the near term as the labor market continues to tighten. Consensus expects a steady reading of 249k for the week ending 4 February.”

“Wholesale inventories: In an advance estimate, wholesale inventories were up 1.0% m-o-m in December following another 1.0% increase in November. The increase in inventories was broad-based in both durable and nondurable goods categories. The steady growth in December and November is consistent with a strong contribution from inventory investment to Q4 GDP growth reported in the first estimate of Q4 GDP by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the final estimate for November, consensus expects wholesale inventories to be unrevised at 1.0% m-o-m.”