Data highlights for Thursday:.......>

US DATA PREVIEW: Data highlights for Thursday: Conference Board confidence for

December (134.6 est); Nov New Home Sales and Building Permits Revision release

canceled due to US Gov shutdown (see 0941ET Main Wire for details).

* Deutsche Bank economist' estimate consumer confidence at 134.5, which "could

dip slightly given the wobble in the equity market in Dec. However, it is worth

pointing out that if our forecast is close to the mark, confidence would be less

than 3.5 points off of Oct's 18Y high." DB adds "tightening labor mkt has kept

consumers relatively upbeat on economy and willing to spend. Indeed, even if we

assume flat consumer spending for Dec, real PCE would be up 3.6% annualized in

Q4, modestly above our current forecast of 3.2% for infl-adj cons growth."

* Morgan Stanley economists see consumer confidence "holding mostly flat...up

just 0.2 points to a reading of 135.9. Key drivers of confidence should roughly

offset each other this month. On the one hand, falling stock prices are likely

to be a drag on consumer sentiment. On the other hand, also declining in

December are gas prices, and so lower prices at the pump should provide a boost.