-What happened last week?
Record highs from three major Wall Street indexes were the most important development in the U.S. markets last week.
Last week, the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 closed at their all-time highest levels for three consecutive trading days, while the Nasdaq marked four consecutive trading days closing at record high levels.
The Dow Jones gained 2.3 percent last week, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rose 2.6 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively.
Last week also marked the biggest weekly percentage gain the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both experienced since November 2016.
-Macroeconomic data
The American economy added 148,000 jobs in December, the U.S. Department of Labor announced on Friday. This represented the fewest jobs additions in the last three months of 2017 compared to the market expectation of 190,000 jobs.
The unemployment rate, on the other hand, remained unchanged at 4.1 percent in December, in line with expectations. This marks the lowest unemployment level in the last 17 years.
The U.S. private sector added 250,000 jobs in December to beat expectations of a 190,000 increase, a joint report from ADP and Moody's Analytics showed on Thursday. This marked the largest monthly increase in private sector jobs since March 2017.
-US crude stocks decline, production rises
Crude oil inventories in the U.S. decreased but crude production increased for the week ending Dec. 29, the country's Energy Information Administration (EIA) data showed on Thursday.
Commercial crude oil stocks fell by 7.4 million barrels, or 1.7 percent, to 424.5 million barrels last week, the EIA data showed.
The market expectation for commercial crude stocks was a decline of 5.1 million barrels, but stocks decreased by 4.6 million barrels the previous week. The U.S.' crude oil production increased by 28,000 barrels per day () to 9.78 million for the week ending Dec. 29, according to the EIA.
-Oil rig count in US declines by five
The number of U.S. rigs provides an indication of the oil sector's wellbeing in the country, and signals possible short-term production cuts and increases.
The number of oil rigs in the U.S. decreased by five last week, the oilfield services company Baker Hughes announced on Friday.
This brought down the oil rig count in the country to 742 for the week ending Jan. 5, from 747 the previous week.
-Oil prices reach the highest level in two and a half years
Crude oil prices reached their highest level in two and a half years on Wednesday amid tensions in Iran and with the ongoing support of OPEC's production cut agreement.
After opening the day at $66.55 per barrel, international benchmark Brent crude gained 2 percent to reach as high as $68.13 per barrel before 5.33 GMT - its highest level since May 13, 2015.
American benchmark West Texas Intermediate opened at $60.42 a barrel and gained 2.3 percent to trade as high as $62.09 a barrel -- its highest level since June 10, 2015.
Tensions in Iran are not expected to hinder the country's crude oil production, experts said, however, they cautioned that these developments have created some concern among investors about potential supply disruptions.
In addition, with OPEC and Russia extending their oil production cut agreement until the end of 2018, higher crude prices are supported, according to analysts.
-Trump administration moves to allow extensive offshore drilling
The U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration took steps on Thursday that will likely trigger a rush in offshore drilling, a move that would undo his predecessor Barack Obama's ban on offshore drilling.
The plan called Unleashing America's Offshore Oil and Gas Potential proposes opening more than 90 percent of areas for drilling in the U.S.' Arctic, Pacific, Atlantic, and Gulf of Mexico regions between 2019 and 2024.
The five-year plan, if approved, will provide exploration and production of oil and gas in federal offshore areas for energy companies with 'the largest number of lease sales in U.S. history,' the Department of Interior said in a statement.
The plan, however, is a major blow to Obama's environmental legacy that indefinitely banned drilling in large areas of the Arctic and the Atlantic in December 2016.
Trump, on the other hand, signed an executive order in April 2017 ordering the Department of Interior to reconsider Obama’s ban and prepare a plan to open offshore drilling.
The department's plan proposes selling 19 leases off the coast of Alaska, seven in the Pacific Region, 12 in the Gulf of Mexico, and nine in the Atlantic Region over the five-year period.
-Fed minutes show tax cuts led to rising growth forecast
U.S. Federal Reserve officials accounted for the possibility of tax cuts into their revision of economic growth forecasts, the minutes from the Fed's December meeting showed Wednesday.
On Dec. 13, the central bank increased its growth estimates for the American economy to 2.5 percent for both 2017 and 2018, from the previous projections of 2.4 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively.
The bank's upward revisions in economic growth projections came prior to the U.S. Congress’ approval of the $1.5 trillion tax cut to boost the economy and before Trump signed it into law.
The Fed's next meeting will be held in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 26-27 when it is not anticipated that the Fed will make a rate hike.
The central bank increased its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points last month.
This marked the third rate hike in 2017 and the fifth since December 2015.
-Turkey’s economy to grow by 4.8% in next 5 years: Fitch
Turkey's economy is expected to grow by 4.8 percent annually on average in the next five years, global agency Fitch Ratings said Thursday.
In its report entitled Investment and Demographics Key to EM Growth Potential, Fitch provided a list of the 10 largest emerging markets in the world, out of which Turkey ranked third for its economic growth rate forecast.
The agency said Turkey is set to see a continued robust growth in the working-age population in the next five years, which supports its GDP growth potential.
The agency also said Turkey has seen an impressive rate of capital accumulation per worker but noted this has been funded externally and is associated with some downside risks.
Turkey’s strong growth rate 'hinges crucially on continued high investment rates, which could be vulnerable to a sustained slowdown in capital inflows,' the report said.
'Turkey’s estimated potential growth is just below 5 percent, but the assumed growth trend in labor productivity is predicated entirely on a high investment rate that could be vulnerable to a withdrawal in foreign funding flows,' it added.
India came on top among the 10 emerging markets in the report with a potential growth rate of 6.7 percent in the next five years.
-What to expect this week?
The most important U.S. macroeconomic data the markets will be watching is retail sales that will be announced on Friday.
In November, retail sales rose by 0.8 percent, from the month before. The retail sales are expected to increase by 0.5 percent in December, compared to the previous month.
Consumer Price Index (CPI) for December, which measures the change in the price of goods and services for consumers, will also be released on Friday.
CPI increased by 0.4 percent in November, from the month before. The data is now estimated to rise by 0.2 percent in December, compared to the previous month, and it is anticipated to show an increase of 2.1 percent year-over-year.
Producer Price Index (PPI) for December, which measures the change in the price of goods and services for producers, will be released on Thursday.
PPI increased by 0.4 percent in November, from the month before. The data is now estimated to rise by 0.2 percent in December, compared to the previous month, and it is anticipated to show an increase of 3 percent year-over-year.
Several Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) members will be making speeches this week. Investors and the markets will watch their comments closely on the overall outlook of the U.S. economy and the number of rate hikes the Fed is anticipated to make this year.
On Monday, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, San Francisco Fed President John Williams, and Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren will make speeches.
Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard will talk on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
New York Fed President William Dudley will make a speech on Thursday, while Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren will talk again on Friday.
Dudley, Bostic, and Williams have the right to vote in the FOMC this year.
The EIA will announce the weekly change in the U.S.' crude oil inventories and production on Wednesday.
The weekly change in the U.S.' oil rig count will be released on Friday.