Here Come Retail Sales ...

Expectations are for sales to fall 0.1% month-on-month, after a 0.7% increase in November.

Sales excluding autos and gas are expected to rise 0.5% in December.

In November, headline retail sales rose 0.7%, topping expectations for a 0.4% increase. Sales excluding auto and gas rose 3.9% compared to the prior year last month, the fastest year-on-year increase in 16 months.

In a note to clients ahead of Wednesday's report, Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macro wrote that he expects gas sales will weigh heavily on retail sales in December, and said the risk for the sales number on Wednesday is to the downside.

We'll be back with the live numbers when they hit.