Day Ahead: Top 3 Things to Watch
Investing.com - Here’s a preview of the top 3 things that could rock markets tomorrow
1. Housing Data, Consumer Confidence, Richmond Fed Manufacturing on Tap
Amid easing geopolitical tensions following improving U.S-China trade relations and signs of progress toward peace talks on the Korean peninsula, investor attention will likely remain on top-tier economic data, corporate earnings and rising U.S. bond yields.
The Commerce Department is expected to report new home sales in March rose 1.9% to 625,000 units from 618,000 units in February.
Economist forecast the Conference Board’s consumer confidence gauge due 10:00 am ET to show a cooler reading of 126.0 for April from 127.7 in the previous month.
The Richmond Fed manufacturing index data for March due 10:00 am ET is expected to increase to 16 from a reading of 15 in March.
The 10Y US Treasury yield will also be in focus as it neared a key 3% level Monday amid growing investor expectations for a continued uptick in U.S. economic growth and inflation.
The dollar rose against a basket of major currencies on Monday, hitting a more than seven week high, supported by rising U.S. bond yields and a slump in both the yen and Aussie dollar against the greenback.
2. API Data to Extend Crude Oil Rally?
Traders look ahead to a fresh batch of crude oil inventory data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) due Tuesday after data last week showed a draw in U.S. crude stockpiles.
The American Petroleum Institute reported last Tuesday crude oil stockpiles fell by 1.047 million barrels. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report showed a 1.071 million barrel decline in crude supplies closely matching the API figure.
Crude oil futures started the week on the front foot rebounding from intraday weakness which followed bearish comments on OPEC cuts from Iran.
3. Alphabet to Lift Sentiment on Tech?
Google-parent company Alphabet traded roughly flat in afterhours after posting first-quarter earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street estimates but investors weighed the tech-giant’s ramp up in capital expenditure, which was more than double analysts’ estimates.
Alphabet posted first-quarter earnings of $9.93 per share on $31.15 billion in revenue, topping analysts’ expectations for earnings of $9.28 per share on $30.29 billion in revenue.
Capital expenditures for Alphabet's Google division rose to $7.7 billion for the first quarter of 2018, more than triple last year's expenditures of $2.41 billion and more than double the $3.5 billion analysts had expected for all of Alphabet’s divisions.
Advertising revenues, which forms a large chunk of Alphabet’s revenues, was $26.6 billion for the quarter.
Cost-per-click, the price Google charges for its ads, fell 7% year-on-year while the price for views of ads sold rose 8%.
Shares of Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL) rose 0.19% in after hours trading to $1,069.50 after closing 0.33% lower at $1,073.81.
The report from Alphabet kicked off what is expected to be the busiest week of earnings which will include reports from tech behemoths Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Twitter.
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