Weekly Market Note

Week of July 13–17, 2026

July 17, 2026 Main Management Research

This week’s round-up of economic releases and market insights.

No video walkthrough was recorded for this week — the full note is available below.

In summary

Headline CPI fell to 3.5% Y/Y in June, a sharp drop from 4.2% in May and well below forecasts of 3.8%; Core CPI also eased to 2.6% Y/Y, suggesting inflation is moderating broadly.
Headline PPI rose 5.5% Y/Y in June, cooling from the prior month and below forecasts but still elevated versus 2025, while Core PPI ticked up to 4.7% Y/Y.
NFIB Small Business Optimism climbed to 97.4, its strongest reading since February and above the 95.8 forecast, with 21% of owners now citing inflation as their single most important problem.
Retail Sales rose +0.2% M/M, in line with expectations and the smallest gain in five months, though sales excluding gasoline were up +0.7% M/M, pointing to continued consumer resilience.
Housing Starts jumped 19% M/M to 1.43m units in June, beating forecasts and marking the strongest reading in three months after a weak, downwardly revised May.
The preliminary University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment reading rose to 54.4 in July, above expectations and a second straight monthly gain, but still very depressed relative to history.