Comfort with taper, retail data to define week ahead
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — After Friday’s stock-market rally, investors will focus next week on retail-sales data and the implications of the strong November jobs report for Federal Reserve policy.

Trading may be muted on Monday following the nearly 200-point-gain notched by the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI JIA) on Friday, according to Joe Heider, regional managing principal at wealth-management firm Rehmann. Government data showed Friday that nonfarm payrolls rose by 203,000 in November and the jobless rate fell to 7%, propelling a rally on Wall Street.

Looking ahead, Heider said the most significant moves could come Thursday, when the market will take in monthly retail-sales data. Economists polled by MarketWatch expect that retail sales rose 0.3% in November. The data will incorporate sales from Black Friday, which Heider described as “disappointing” for retailers, albeit offset by “strong” results for e-commerce. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/comfort-with...beforebell