Stocks Decline After Disappointing Retail Sales Report

Retail Sales Declined By 1.1% In July

U.S. has just released Retail Sales report for July. The report indicated that Retail Sales decreased by 1.1% month-over-month in July compared to analyst consensus which called for a decline of just 0.3%. Excluding Autos, Retail Sales decreased by 0.4% month-over-month compared to analyst consensus which called for growth of 0.1%.

S&P 500 futures are moving lower after the release of Retail Sales report. The recent Consumer Sentiment report also fell short of expectations. It looks that consumer activity is slowing down, which may put some pressure on the stock market.

Today, traders will also have a chance to take a look at Industrial Production and Manufacturing Production reports for July. Analysts expect that Industrial Production increased by 0.5% month-over-month after growing by 0.4% in June. Manufacturing Production is expected to grow by 0.6% month-over-month.

WTI Oil Remains Under Pressure On Virus Worries

WTI oil has recently moved back below the $67 level and is trying to get to the test of the $66.50 level as traders are worried that countries will introduce additional virus containment measures which could hurt demand for oil.

New Zealand has recenty entered a lockdown after just one coronavirus case. The country will spend three days under a strict lockdown, while the city of Auckland will have to endure a seven-day lockdown. As Australia’s example shows, the lockdown may be extended if New Zealand fails to quickly track the virus.

Energy-related stocks have recently moved closer to multi-week lows, and it looks that they will find themselves under more pressure at the start of today’s trading session.

Treasury Yields Decline As Traders Rush Into Safe-Haven Assets

The yield of 10-year Treasuries is currently trying to settle below 1.22% as traders rush to buy safe-haven U.S. government bonds due to worries about the spread of the Delta variant of coronavirus.

Other safe-haven assets are also moving higher. U.S. dollar is gaining ground against a broad basket of currencies, while gold is trading close to the $1800 level, which is bullish for gold mining stocks.

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