07:06 AM EDT, 04/15/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity investors will look out for quarterly earnings and retail sales data this week as domestic factors will likely outweigh geopolitics as long as the conflict in the Middle East does not escalate into a full-scale war between Israel and Iran.

* Crude oil prices fell early Monday following the anticipated attack on Israel. The Israeli government said the attack caused limited damage, Reuters reported Monday. The attack marks an escalation in geopolitical tensions, but the extent of the risk mounting ahead will likely depend on Israel's reaction, ANZ Bank said in a Monday note.

* The US Dollar Index slipped 0.2% to 105.87, still at around its strongest since November, reflecting the impact of developments in the Middle East and the recent hotter-than-expected consumer price inflation data in the US.

* Gold fell 0.3% to $2,368.1 per ounce, still trading close to its record high.

* Investors will watch out for macroeconomic data that will throw more light on the strength of the labor market, any change in trend for the worse in goods inflation, and a continuation of thawing in the services ex shelter prices.

* US retail sales for March due Monday will likely show subdued spending as higher prices weighed, Daiwa Capital said. "Admittedly, a price boost to sales of gasoline will offset a sharp drop in new car sales that month." Daiwa expects 0.3% month-over-month growth, halving from 0.6% in February and leaving retail sales down 0.5% quarter-over-quarter in Q1.

* Mixed mega-cap bank earnings late last week kicked off the Q1 reporting season on a downbeat note. Quarterly results this week will set the tone for markets as Fed interest-rate cuts get pushed out further into the year.

* Goldman Sachs ( GS ) , UnitedHealth Group ( UNH ) , Bank of America ( BAC ) , Morgan Stanley ( MS ) , Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) , Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), and Netflix ( NFLX ) are among the scores of firms reporting this week.