Opening Comment — Friday, January 17, 2025
DJIA: 43,153.13, down 68.42
S&P 500: 5,937.34, down 12.57
NASDAQ: 19,338.29, down 172.94
Stocks higher ahead of industrial production
Stock futures are higher Friday morning ahead of the release of industrial production and housing market data. As of 7:20 AM ET, the Dow is rising 0.4%, while the S&P 500 is up 0.3%. The Nasdaq 100 is increasing 0.4% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were lower on Thursday as data showed retail sales rising less than forecasted in December. Initial jobless claims rose, though continuing claims declined. The Dow was down 0.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.9%. The S&P 500 decreased 0.2% with three of 11 sectors finishing in negative territory. The Utilities sector was the top performer, rising 2.6%, while the Information Technology sector was the bottom performer, falling 1.3%.
On the data front, housing starts for December are expected to come in at an annualized pace of 1.33 million versus the prior month’s 1.29 million, corresponding to an increase of 3.0% month-over-month (MOM) versus the prior month’s decline of 1.8%. Meanwhile, building permits for December are projected to come in at an annualized pace of 1.46 million versus the prior month’s 1.49 million, corresponding to a decrease of 2.2% MOM versus the prior month’s rise of 5.2%. Industrial production is expected to have expanded by 0.3% MOM in December, compared to the prior month’s decrease of 0.1%, while capacity utilization is forecasted to rise to 77.0% from the prior month’s 76.8%.
Across the pond, European stocks are higher in mid-day trading as the U.K.’s retail sales unexpectedly declined in December.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mixed following China’s fourth quarter gross domestic product coming in at 5.4% year-over-year growth, while the country’s December industrial production and retail sales came in above forecasts.
In FOREX trading, the dollar is slightly higher as investors look ahead to this month’s central bank meetings, with the Bank of Japan meeting next week, while the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank meet the following week.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 0.3% higher at $78.90/barrel.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.7% lower at $2733.00/ounce following a strengthening dollar.