US Close: Wage inflation worries send stocks lower, US data

US stocks struggled after the big banks had a rough start to earnings season.  JPMorgan shares dropped sharply over fears that surging expenses and wage inflation may lead to a greater profit miss over the next couple of years. Risk appetite did not get any favors from a wrath of US economic data that missed expectations, raising fears that the underlying recovery is vulnerable. The great cyclical rotation was reversed today and even though Treasury yields soared higher, tech stocks caught a bid.

US data

US retail spending decreased by 1.9% in December, much worse than the expected 0.1% decline.  Online sales fell by 8.7%, but that should not be the beginning of a trend.  Americans most likely got their holiday shopping done early and the spread of omicron dampened some in-store shopping. Retail sales will continue to decline in January.

The preliminary January consumer sentiment dropped sharply to the second lowest level in a decade. This weakness was mostly omicron related but that should hopefully be in March.  Inflation expectations also rose and that will likely remain the case until CPI peaks over the next couple of months.

Manufacturing production weakened, even ex-autos, while Industrial production came in a little soft. The manufacturing and industrial production recovery will improve if this omicron wave passes in February.

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Ed Moya

Ed Moya

Contributing Author at OANDA
With more than 20 years’ trading experience, Ed Moya was a Senior Market Analyst with OANDA for the Americas from November 2018 to November 2023. His particular expertise lies across a wide range of asset classes including FX, commodities, fixed income, stocks and cryptocurrencies. Over the course of his career, Ed has worked with some of the leading forex brokerages, research teams and news departments on Wall Street including Global Forex Trading, FX Solutions and Trading Advantage. Prior to OANDA he worked with TradeTheNews.com, where he provided market analysis on economic data and corporate news. Based in New York, Ed is a regular guest on several major financial television networks including CNBC, Bloomberg TV, Yahoo! Finance Live, Fox Business, cheddar news, and CoinDesk TV. His views are trusted by the world’s most respected global newswires including Reuters, Bloomberg and the Associated Press, and he is regularly quoted in leading publications such as MSN, MarketWatch, Forbes, Seeking Alpha, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Ed holds a BA in Economics from Rutgers University.