Retail Sales Report to Life Stocks

After dropping sharply late Friday, the stock market looks to open higher this morning. The good news is that the Commerce Department reported that retail sales rose by 0.8% this morning. Economists were expecting an increase of 0.3%. Today’s news could lead economists to raise their forecast for Q1 GDP growth. The consensus is currently at around 2.5%.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before but there are still in concerns in Europe. The yield on the 10-year Spanish Treasury bond is back over 6%. Although that is higher, it’s below the 6.7% peak it reached in November.

Earnings season rolls on. Citigroup ($C) reported Q1 earnings of 95 cents per share which was seven cents below estimates. The bank is trying to recover, but it’s been lagging the sector.

Posted by on April 16th, 2012 at 9:06 am


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