Retail Sales, Ongoing Unemployment, New Claims: 3 Things to Watch

© Reuters.

By Dhirendra Tripathi

AiVIF.com -- Stocks bounced higher on Wednesday heading into the final half-hour of trading, boosted by the energy sector as stronger than expected drawdowns in U.S. crude inventories last week sent oil prices 3% higher.

U.S. oil stockpiles fell 6.4 million barrels last week, nearly twice as much as expected, according to data from the Energy Information Administration.

There was also positive data on factory activity. Investors are awaiting Thursday’s retail sales numbers and jobless claims as the Federal Reserve prepares for its periodic policy meeting next week.

Industrial stocks had a strong showing after data showed that factory activity expanded in August, though the pace of that growth was slower because of a new wave of Covid cases and Hurricane Ida.

Among individual stocks, Dutch Bros Inc (NYSE:BROS) jumped 65% after its trading debut as the coffee retailer becomes the latest challenger to Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX), which fell 4%.

And “buy now, pay later” firm GreenSky LLC (NASDAQ:GSKY) soared more than 50% after Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) said it would buy the firm in an all-stock deal valued at $2.24 billion.

Here are three things that could affect markets tomorrow:

1. Retail sales for August

Retail sales are likely to have weakened again in August after they fell in July, though the pace of decline is seen having slowed down. On a month-over-month basis, they are seen 0.8% lower compared to July’s 1.1% erosion, according to analysts tracked by  AiVIF.com. The data are released at 8:30 AM ET (1230 GMT).

2. Ongoing unemployment

Continuing jobless claims in the U.S., a measure of people receiving unemployment benefits for a while, are expected to rise to 2.785 million in the week ending September 11 from 2.783 million a week before, according to AiVIF.com.

3. New jobless claims

The number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time in the U.S. is also seen rising to 330,000 for the week ending September 11 from 310,000 for the week before.