Wall Street to Focus on Oil, Economic Data

Stocks may come under pressure this week as investors sell shares at year’s end to prepare for tax season.

Also in investors’ sights will be crude oil prices, the value of the dollar and economic data on productivity, labor costs, producer prices and consumer sentiment.

“Productivity and labor costs will be a focus because they are two components that go into the outlook for inflation, and that, in turn, affects the Fed’s posture,” said Lawrence Horan, director of research at Parker/Hunter Inc. “The debate now is: Are they going to accelerate their rate increases next year?”

Last week, stocks rose across the board.

The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.67%, the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 0.72% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index climbed 2.19%.

For the year so far, stocks are higher.

The Dow is up 1.32%, the S&P; 500 is up 7.13% and Nasdaq is up 7.22%.

Oil prices have fallen more than 20% from the $55.67 record struck on Oct. 25, but some see them remaining at historically high levels.

“The oil phenomenon is not going to go away for a long time,” said Ozan Akcin, chief market strategist at Puglisi & Co.

“If you see a solution to Iraq, they could fall. But if you don’t, speculators will continue to speculate on the supply and demand situation and prices will likely remain near where they are today,” Akcin said.