Eurozone retail confidence boost expected

Tuesday will be the only important day in terms of data releases in most markets thanks to a shortened week for the public holidays surrounding Christmas, although some interesting Japanese data will be published on Christmas Day.
Today’s highlight will be the release of consumer confidence figures for the eurozone in December. The previous month saw confidence fall from -11.1 to -11.6 on the index but the expectation is that falling oil prices and increasing real incomes should boost consumer confidence. The consensus prediction is for -11.0 in December.
The third release of estimates of US gross domestic product for the third quarter will be released tomorrow. Analysts suggest consumer spending was much stronger in the third quarter than previously thought. The consensus is that the annualised rate of growth will be revised upwards from 3.9 per cent in the second estimate to 4.3 per cent.
US durable goods orders and personal income and spending data will be published tomorrow as well. Both are expected to show an acceleration in November. For durable goods this is thought to be mainly due to an increase in aircraft sales. The year’s last University of Michigan confidence index is expected to show a final reading of 93.3, revised down slightly from 93.8.