Looking good in US today (so far).
March CPI: -0.2% actual, -0.1% Briefing.com consensus, +0.7% prior
Core CPI: +0.1% actual, +0.2% Briefing.com consensus, +0.2% prior
Housing starts: 1.036 million actual, 930,000 Briefing.com consensus, 968,000 prior
Building permits: 902,000 actual, 945,000 Briefing.com consensus, 939,000 prior
Industrial production: +0.4% actual, +0.3% Briefing.com consensus, +0.7% prior
Capacity utilization: 78.5% actual, 78.4% Briefing.com consensus, 78.3% prior
The equity market is poised to begin the session on firm footing with defensive consumer staples and health care sectors likely to show early strength after Coca-Cola (KO 41.45, +1.36) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 82.45, +0.74) reported better-than-expected earnings.
Elsewhere, Goldman Sachs (GS 147.44, +0.98) is rising 0.7% after the bank's earnings and revenue eclipsed analyst estimates.
Just reported, March industrial production rose 0.4%, which was better than the 0.3% uptick that had been expected by the Briefing.com consensus. Meanwhile, capacity utilization hit 78.5%, which was slightly better than the 78.4% expected by the Briefing.com consensus.