Industrial production increased +0.9% in December, while the street was expecting only a +0.3% gain. The index hit a 6 month high, although it remains well within the long term range, and still below the all time highs from September 2018.
The year over year growth rate turned positive (+0.5%) for the first time in the last five months.
After today’s data, the latest estimate for Q4 GDP is 3.0%. With the midpoint of the range around 2.25%.
After briefly breaking above the 2024 highs, the 10 year interest rate has fallen from 4.8% to 4.6% in the last 3 days. Giving some relief to risk assets…
With the S&P 500 rallying back above the 50 day moving average and above the downtrend line that was established since the record high in December. The initial “pre-Santa Claus rally” in mid December pushed the S&P 500 up about 217 points, but ultimately making a lower high/lower low. As of today’s open, the S&P 500 has now rallied an equivalent 217 points off of Monday’s low. These are highlighted in white boxes within the chart above.More By This Author:Q4 Earnings Beat Rate & Surprise Factor Well Above Average So Far
Retail Sales Miss Expectations, While Inflation Adjusted Sales Remain Stagnant
Financials Get Q4 Earnings Off To A Good Start
