Christmas Stock Market Holiday, Housing and Manufacturing Data, and More to Watch This Week

There will also be a variety of regional manufacturing activity surveys released: The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas’ Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey for December on Tuesday, the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond’s Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity for December on Wednesday, and the Institute for Supply Management’s Chicago Business Barometer for December on Friday.

No major companies are reporting earnings this week. Fourth-quarter earnings season will unofficially kick off on January 12 with results from
JPMorgan Chase,

Bank of America,

Citigroup,
and
Wells Fargo.

Monday 12/25

Equity and fixed-income markets are closed in observance of Christmas.

Tuesday 12/26

S&P CoreLogic releases its Case-Shiller National Home Price Index for October. The consensus estimate is for a 5.1% year-over-year increase, following a 3.9% rise in September. The Federal Housing Finance Agency also publishes its House Price Index for October. Low supply of homes for sale in the U.S. continues to push prices higher.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas releases its Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey for December. Economists forecast a negative 16.0 reading, almost four points better than in November. Index readings of less than zero indicate slumping manufacturing activity in the state.

Wednesday 12/27

The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond releases its Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity for December. The consensus call is for a negative 4.0 reading, about one point better than the previous month’s data.

All five of the regional Federal Reserve Bank manufacturing indexes—Dallas, Kansas City, New York, Philadelphia, and Richmond, Va.—are showing contracting, but improving, activity in their regions’ manufacturing sectors.

Thursday 12/28

The Department of Labor reports jobless claims data for the week ending Dec. 23. Initial claims are forecast to come in at 205,000, which would be equal to the prior week. That’s lower than the historical average, suggesting that the U.S. labor market remains tight. The unemployment rate was 3.7% in November.

​​The National Association of Realtors releases its Pending Home Sales Index for November. The index is a leading indicator of U.S. housing activity. The consensus forecast is for a 0.5% month-over-month gain, after a 1.5% increase in October.

Friday 12/29

The Institute for Supply Management releases its Chicago Business Barometer for December. Economists forecast a 49.8 reading, which would be down by six points from the prior month and put the index narrowly back in contraction territory.

Write to Nicholas Jasinski at nicholas.jasinski@barrons.com