U.S. Stocks Set To Open Higher As Retail Sales Increased By 1.9% In September

Strong Retail Sales Report Could Provide More Support To Stocks

The U.S. has just provided Retail Sales data for September. On a month-over-month basis, Retail Sales grew by 1.9%. Analysts expected that Retail Sales would grow by just 0.7%. Year-over-year, Retail Sales grew by 5.4%.

Excluding Autos, Retail Sales increased by 1.5% compared to analyst consensus which called for growth of 0.5%.

The better-than-expected Retail Sales report will likely provide additional support to stocks, and S&P 500 futures are gaining ground in premarket trading.

Later, the U.S. will provide Industrial Production and Manufacturing Production reports for September. Industrial Production is expected to increase by 0.5% on a month-over-month basis while Manufacturing Production is projected to grow by 0.7%.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson Tells Britain To Prepare For A No-Deal Brexit

EU stated that negotiations with UK lacked progress and told London to compromise on key issues or face a no-deal Brexit.

In turn, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated that it was time to prepare for a hard Brexit. According to reports, EU officials did not take Johnson’s words seriously and believed that UK will continue negotiations next week.

Meanwhile, the currency market is not buying the idea of a hard Brexit. GBP/USD and EUR/USD are gaining some ground, indicating that traders believe that UK and EU will ultimately manage to reach a compromise deal. The safe-haven U.S. dollar is losing ground against a broad basket of currencies.

A hard Brexit could hurt world markets as it will put pressure on EU and UK economies at a time when they try to deal with the second wave of coronavirus.

Oil Is Strong Despite Virus Worries

Yesterday, oil made an attempt to settle below the $40 level amid worries about new virus-related restrictions in Europe that could limit demand for oil.

However, oil managed to quickly rebound from lows at $39.25. Currently, oil is losing some ground but stays firmly above $40. The oil market has managed to ignore virus worries which indicates that oil gets strong support near the $40 level.

This strength could ultimately provide the much-needed support for the beaten oil-related stocks which significantly underperform the broader market.

For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.