US: Focus on jobless claims and new home sales data – Nomura

Analysts at Nomura suggest that initial jobless claims and new home sales will be the key economic releases for today’s US session.

Key Quotes

“After a period of increased volatility related to the holiday season, initial claims have returned to historical lows as the labor market continues to show strength. We expect this trend to continue over the near to medium term as the economy continues to operate above potential.”

“New home sales: We forecast a 6.5% m-o-m decline in December new home sales to an annualized pace of 685k (Consensus: 7.9% decline to 675k). November new home sales were driven in part by demand that was shifted to later months owing to hurricanes. As this demand wanes, new home sales should return to more stable growth. Similar to December’s housing starts data, we could see notable payback in the month for new home sales. However, with the strong labor market and solid income growth, consumer fundamentals should support continued growth in new home sales over the medium term.”