NEW YORK, Jan 4, 2026, 14:51 ET — Market closed
- Home Depot shares closed up 0.5% on Friday at $345.82.
- Investors are bracing for Friday’s U.S. December jobs report and next week’s CPI.
- The stock sits below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, a trend signal many traders watch.
Home Depot (HD.N) shares ended Friday up 0.5% at $345.82, leaving the home-improvement retailer in focus heading into Monday’s open as investors line up for a busy week of U.S. economic data.
Why it matters now is simple: Home Depot’s demand is closely tied to housing activity and consumer appetite for big-ticket projects, both of which can swing with borrowing costs. Fresh jobs and inflation readings can reshape expectations for interest rates — and that often feeds directly into mortgage rates.
The stock also enters the week in a technically vulnerable spot. Home Depot closed about 19% below its 52-week high of $426.75 and remains under its 50-day and 200-day moving averages — rolling averages of recent closing prices that traders often use as trend and “support/resistance” markers. Yahoo Finance
Home Depot’s move on Friday tracked a modestly higher broader market, while peer Lowe’s (LOW.N) jumped 2.38% in the same session, according to MarketWatch market data.
The first full week of 2026 is packed. Investors will see the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing PMI on Monday and ISM services on Wednesday; PMI is a survey-based gauge of business activity that markets use as a quick read on growth.
Friday is the main event. The U.S. employment report for December is due at 8:30 a.m. ET on Jan. 9, and the December consumer price index is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. ET on Jan. 13, the Labor Department’s release calendar shows.
Economists at BMO Capital Markets see a soft jobs print, with Michael Gregory and Shelly Kaushik penciling in about 50,000 new jobs and unemployment holding at 4.6%, Kiplinger reported. “The direction of the economy and labor market in 2026 will largely depend on productivity and AI’s influence on it,” BMO economist Sal Guatieri said in remarks cited by the publication. Kiplinger
For Home Depot, the near-term tape is still anchored to its latest outlook. The company last month projected fiscal 2026 comparable sales growth of approximately flat to 2% and adjusted earnings per share to rise approximately flat to 4%, while pegging the overall home-improvement market in a range between -1% and +1%, it said.
The next company catalyst is earnings. Home Depot has not confirmed its next report date, but MarketBeat estimates results on Feb. 24 before the market opens, based on past reporting schedules.
But the risk for bulls is that hotter-than-expected jobs or inflation data pushes yields higher and keeps housing turnover muted, stretching out the slow patch in discretionary remodeling. A weaker labor print could revive rate-cut bets, yet also stoke worries about consumer demand.
Traders will take the first cue from Monday’s 10:00 a.m. ET ISM manufacturing release, with the bigger test coming at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday, when the U.S. December jobs report hits.
