US: Initial jobless claims and import prices data in focus – Nomura

Research Team at Nomura suggests that in today’s US session initial jobless claims and import price data releases will be in focus for investors.

Key Quotes

 “Initial jobless claims have been on a downtrend for a while, falling to 235k in the final week of December. This trend suggests that involuntary layoffs have been subdued. We expect jobless claims to remain steady in the near term as the labor market continues to tighten.”

“Import prices: Import prices were down 0.3% m-o-m in November, largely driven by a sharp drop in petroleum import prices. In December, consensus is expecting a strong rebound of 0.7% m-o-m in import prices, likely owing to higher energy prices. Note that incoming import prices may affect our inflation forecast for December.”