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Briefing.com Summary:

*The December employment situation report turned out to be better than feared; the unemployment rate fell to 4.4%.

*The Supreme Court could possibly issue its ruling today on President Trump's IEEAP tariff authority.

*The Treasury market's demeanor today will be key to the stock market's performance.

Today has the makings of being a consequential day for the capital markets. We have the release of the December Employment Situation report; the possible release of the Supreme Court ruling on the IEEPA tariff case; oil executives meeting at the White House to discuss plans for Venezuela; and President Trump noting he has instructed "his representatives," believed to be Freddie Mac (FMCC) and Fannie Mae (FNMA), to purchase $200 billion of mortgage bonds.

There are reports that Merck (MRK) could pursue a bid to acquire Revolution Medicines (RVMD) for somewhere in the neighborhood of $30 billion, and Rio Tinto (RIO) has said it is in preliminary discussions with Glencore for a possible combination.

The corporate news, however, will take a backseat to the macro matters, which revolve around the employment report and the IEEPA ruling (if we get it). What we know for sure at this juncture is that the employment situation in December was better than feared and not entirely bad, unless one is counted among the long-term unemployed.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 50,000; the unemployment rate fell to 4.4% from 4.5%; and average hourly earnings increased 3.8% year-over-year versus 3.6% in November. Granted, the employment situation could be better, but the key takeaway is that the low unemployment rate will temper concerns that consumer spending and the economy will slow rapidly due to a weak labor market. It will also likely keep the Fed's next rate cut at bay.

Notable headlines from the December Employment Situation Report:

• December nonfarm payrolls increased by 50,000 (Briefing.com consensus: 55,000). The 3-month average for total nonfarm payrolls decreased to -22,000 from -3,000. November nonfarm payrolls revised to 56,000 from 64,000. October nonfarm payrolls revised to -173,000 from -105,000.

• December private sector payrolls increased by 37,000 (Briefing.com consensus: 50,000). November nonfarm payrolls revised to 50,000 from 69,000. October private sector payrolls revised to 1,000 from 52,000.

• December unemployment rate was 4.4% (Briefing.com consensus: 4.5%) versus downwardly revised 4.5% (from 4.6%) in November. Persons unemployed for 27 weeks or more accounted for 26.0% of the unemployed versus 24.4% in November. The U6 unemployment rate, which accounts for unemployed and underemployed workers, decreased to 8.4% from 8.7% in November.

• December average hourly earnings were up 0.3% (Briefing.com consensus: 0.3%) versus an upwardly revised 0.2% increase (from 0.1%) in November. Over the last 12 months, average hourly earnings have risen 3.8% versus 3.6% for the 12 months ending in November.

• The average workweek in December was 34.2 hours (Briefing.com consensus: 34.3) versus 34.3 hours in November. The manufacturing workweek dipped 0.2 hour to 39.9 hours. Factory overtime was unchanged at 2.9 hours.

• The labor force participation rate decreased to 62.4% from 62.5% in November.

• The employment-population ratio increased to 59.7% from 59.6% in November.

Lost in the shuffle of the employment report hoopla, the Commerce Department played catch-up with the release of both the September and October housing starts and building permits data, so we'll skip to the more current data, which feeds off the September numbers.

Housing starts in October declined 4.6% month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.246 million (Briefing.com consensus: 1.340 million). Building permits decreased 0.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.412 million (Briefing.com consensus: 1.355 million).

The key takeaway from the report is that the weakness in starts was driven entirely by multi-family units. Single-unit starts were up 5.4% month-over-month and at their highest level since July.

There is no weakness in the equity futures market, which has been uplifted by the employment situation. Currently, the S&P 500 futures are up 27 points and are trading 0.4% above fair value, the Nasdaq 100 futures are up 130 points and are trading 0.5% above fair value, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are up 144 points and are trading 0.3% above fair value.

Key to it all, though, is the calm demeanor of the Treasury market. The 2-yr note yield is up two basis points to 3.51%, and the 10-yr note yield is unchanged at 4.18%, sitting quietly in front of the possible IEEPA ruling. Continue to keep an eye on Treasuries. They will ultimately be the judge and jury on what any IEEPA ruling means in the near term for the economy and the market.

--Patrick J. O'Hare, Briefing.com