Upcoming Week: insights on consumer confidence, fresh home sales, and inflation report

Next week, several significant business events and economic indicators will be released, providing insights into the current economic landscape.

To start the week, the Conference Board will publish its latest consumer confidence report on Tuesday.
Analysts are predicting a continued decline in consumer confidence for February.
This index gauges how Americans view present economic conditions and their expectations for the next six months.
Notably, despite inflationary pressures, consumer confidence and spending have remained robust.
The expected figures for consumer confidence over the last few months are as follows:
September: 99.2,
October: 109.6,
November: 112.8,
December: 109.5,
January: 104.1,
and February (projected): 102.6.

On Wednesday, the Commerce Department will provide its monthly update on new home sales in the United States.
Economists anticipate a slight decline in sales for January, estimating a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 680,000 homes.
This comes after a boost in sales during December.
The housing market remains tight, with buyers grappling with high mortgage rates, strong demand, and a limited supply of both new and existing homes.
Recent sales figures, adjusted for seasonality, are as follows:
August: 691,000,
September: 726,000,
October: 615,000,
November: 674,000,
December: 698,000,
and January (estimated): 680,000.

On Friday, attention will turn to consumer inflation data released by the Commerce Department.
Economists expect to see a slight decrease in inflation for January, following a reduction to 2.1% in September.
This figure remains slightly above the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%, but inflation has generally been trending upwards since then.
The anticipated changes in the PCE Deflator, measured as an annual percentage change and seasonally adjusted, are as follows:
August: 2.3,
September: 2.1,
October: 2.3,
November: 2.5,
December: 2.6,
and January (projected): 2.5.

With these key reports on consumer confidence, housing sales, and inflation on the horizon, market participants will be closely monitoring these indicators to gauge economic trends.