Consumer confidence, new home sales, Best Buy earns

A look at some of the key business events and economic indicators upcoming this week:

GAINING CONFIDENCE

A closely watched gauge of U.S. consumer confidence is due out Tuesday.

The Conference Board is expected to report that its consumer confidence index edged up to 90 this month. That would follow a reading of 89.3 in January. A reading of 90 or better reflects a healthy economy. The index also rose last month, reflecting improving sentiment about incomes, business and the labor market.

Consumer confidence, by month:

Sept. 101.3

Oct. 101.4

Nov. 92.9

Dec. 87.1

Jan. 89.3

Feb. (est.) 90.0

Source: FactSet

HOUSING MARKET MONITOR

The Commerce Department serves up its January tally of new U.S. home sales Wednesday.

Economists predict that sales of new homes rose last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 845,000. That would be the highest level since October. Housing came back strong last summer and into the fall before a pullback in November. Still, some 811,000 new homes were sold in 2020, an increase of nearly 19% over 2019′s 683,000.

New home sales, seasonally adjusted annual rate, by month:

Aug. 977,000

Sept. 965,000

Oct. 949,000

Nov. 829,000

Dec. 842,000

Jan. (est.) 845,000

Source: FactSet

STRONG FINISH?

Wall Street expects that Best Buy closed out the last fiscal year with another strong quarterly report card.

Analysts project the consumer electronics retailer will report Thursday that its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue increased from a year earlier. That would echo the company’s results in the previous two quarters. Best Buy has benefited from solid demand for electronic devices that people rely on for work, entertainment and online communication during the pandemic.