Traders and investors are preparing for a dense set of U.S. economic releases on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, with retail spending metrics and housing contract data expected to be focal points. The top-line items - retail sales, core retail sales and pending home sales - are poised to offer fresh readings on household outlays and the strength of home-purchase activity, which market participants watch closely for implications on monetary policy expectations and currency moves.
Major Economic Events to Watch
- 7:30 AM ET - Retail Sales: Forecast 1.4%, Previous 0.6% - Measures the change in total value of sales at the retail level, serving as the foremost indicator of consumer spending.
- 7:30 AM ET - Core Retail Sales: Forecast 1.3%, Previous 0.5% - Tracks the change in total value of retail sales excluding automobiles, providing a clearer view of underlying consumer demand.
- 9:00 AM ET - Pending Home Sales: Forecast 0.0%, Previous 1.8% - Measures the change in homes under contract to be sold but awaiting closing, offering insight into future housing market activity.
Each of these statistics offers a distinct window into the economy. Retail sales show aggregate consumer purchasing trends, core retail sales remove vehicle-driven noise to highlight underlying demand, and pending home sales point to the pipeline of transactions that may translate into future closed home sales.
Additional scheduled releases and events
- 7:15 AM ET - ADP Employment Change Weekly: Previous 39.30K - Provides a four-week moving average of private sector employment changes, offering current labor market conditions.
- 7:30 AM ET - Retail Control: Forecast 0.2%, Previous 0.5% - A component used in GDP calculations that excludes volatile categories.
- 9:00 AM ET - Retail Inventories Ex Auto: Forecast 0.3%, Previous 0.4% - Measures inventory levels excluding automobiles.
- 9:00 AM ET - Business Inventories: Forecast 0.3%, Previous -0.1% - Tracks the change in unsold goods held by manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers.
- 10:30 AM ET - Atlanta Fed GDPNow: Forecast 1.3%, Previous 1.3% - Provides a running estimate of real GDP growth based on available economic data.
- 1:30 PM ET - Fed Waller Speaks: Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller delivers remarks that may provide insight into monetary policy outlook.
- 3:30 PM ET - API Weekly Crude Stock: Forecast -1.000M, Previous 6.100M - Reports inventory levels of US crude oil, indicating petroleum demand trends.
Beyond the headline triad of retail and housing data, several other series released on Tuesday will flesh out the picture of consumption, inventories and growth momentum. Analysts and market participants will track these readings for consistency with other incoming data and to assess the implications for demand across sectors.
Other economic reads scheduled for the day
- 7:30 AM ET - Retail Sales Ex Gas/Autos: Previous 0.4% - Measures retail sales excluding volatile gas and auto components to show underlying demand patterns.
- 7:30 AM ET - Retail Sales (Year-over-Year): Previous 3.71% - Annual comparison of retail sales growth.
- 7:55 AM ET - Redbook: Previous 7.0% - Tracks year-over-year same-store sales growth among large US general merchandise retailers.
- 9:00 AM ET - Pending Home Sales Index: Previous 72.1 - The index level of pending home sales activity.
The combined schedule places a broad set of consumption and housing indicators into a single trading day, meaning market moves could be driven by how today's readings align with expectations across multiple releases rather than a single print.
Summary of what to watch
Market participants will focus on the 7:30 AM ET block of retail data and the 9:00 AM ET pending home sales figures, while also monitoring employment-related measures, inventory reports and a Fed governor's public remarks later in the session. Together, these items provide contemporaneous signals on consumer spending, inventory accumulation and the housing pipeline.
Note: This article presents the scheduled economic releases and consensus forecasts for April 21, 2026, as listed for the trading day.