By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com -- Stocks were mixed on Thursday heading into the last minutes of trading after a curiously strong retail sales report for August set investors adrift.
The Commerce Department said Thursday that retail sales rose 0.7% last month from July. That confounded forecasts for a 0.8% decline. The retail sales control group – which has a larger influence on U.S. GDP – rose 2.5%. Expectations called for a 0.1% drop.
The energy sector also fell, giving back 1.4% despite a recent run-up. The threat to Gulf coast production appeared to ease with the departure of Hurricane Nicholas from the region.
Strong economic data put the wind behind the U.S. dollar and pressured commodity prices such as gold.
The labor market remained under pressure, with initial jobless claims coming slightly higher than expected last week.
There is scant data or earnings to be released on Friday. Here are three things that could affect the markets tomorrow:
1. Consumer sentiment
The preliminary reading of the U.S. consumer sentiment for September, as reflected in the University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index, is seen improving to 72 from August’s 70.3.
2. Retail stocks
Retailers suffered during the pandemic but have been trying to stage a reopening rebound. Strong retail sales -- especially of online retailers and back-to-school shopping -- could help lift shares of major stores. The SPDR® S&P Retail ETF (NYSE:XRT) rose 1.5% Thursday. Consumers thus didn’t hold back their spending when they were supposed to.
The resurgence in Covid cases did reflect at restaurants and bars where sales were flat though still nearly 32% higher than from the year-ago levels.
3. A new coffee guy on the block
Dutch Bros Inc (NYSE:BROS) jumped another 33% in its second day of trading on the NYSE. It listed this week with an issue price of $23 and traded around $49 late in the session on Thursday.
The coffee drinks retailer made a profit of $6.3 million on sales of $404.5 million for the 12 months ended June 30. Key rivals include Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX), Dunkin’ and Peet’s Coffee & Tea.