Here come retail sales ...

The January report on retail sales is set for release from the Census Bureau at 8:30 am ET.

Expectations are for sales to fall 0.4% month-on-month and fall 0.5% when excluding auto sales.

Excluding auto and gas sales, retail sales are expected to rise 0.4%.

In December, retail sales disappointed, falling 0.9% over the prior month as sales at gasoline stations declined 6.5% amid the huge decline in the price of oil.

In a note to clients ahead of Thursday's report, Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macro - who expects retail sales to fall in-line with expectations - wrote that gasoline sales could take up to 0.9% out of the headline sales number in January.

We'll be back with the live numbers when they hit.