Day Ahead: Top 3 Things to Watch
Investing.com - Here’s a preview of the top 3 things that could rock markets tomorrow.
1. More Jobs Numbers Ahead of Friday’s Payrolls
More employment numbers arrive tomorrow as the big April jobs report gets nearer.
At 7:30 AM ET (11:30 GMT), outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas releases its job cuts report for April.
At 8:30 AM ET, the Labor Department issues its weekly initial jobless claims figures.
Claims for first-time unemployment benefits are expected to drop to 220,000, according to economists’ forecasts compiled by Investing.com.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department will release its report on March factory orders at 10:00 AM ET.
Economists, on average, are predicting that orders rebounded to rise 1% for the month.
2. Cigna, Shell (LON:RDSa) to Report Results
In sheer numbers, this is among the heaviest weeks of the earning season.
Among the most import reports due:
Cigna (NYSE:CI), one of the largest health-insurance companies, reports before the bell. Analysts polled by Investing.com expect the company to report earnings of $3.78 a share in the first quarter, down from $4.11 a year ago.
Revenue is forecast at $42.69 billion. That’s not comparable to a year ago because Cigna acquired pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts (NASDAQ:ESRX) last year in a $67 billion deal. The shares are down 14.7% this year.
Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDSa), the Anglo-Dutch oil giant, is expected to report $1.11 per American Depositary Unit in the quarter, down 133% from a year ago. Revenue is forecast at $84.65 billion, down 5.1% from a year ago. The ADRs are up 7.6% this year, in part because of rising oil prices.
Broadcaster CBS (NYSE:CBS) is expected to report $1.39 a share postmarket, up from $1.34 a share a year ago, according to analysts polled by Investing.com. Revenue is projected at $4.31 billion, up 14.6% from a year ago.
The shares are up nearly 17% this year. The company has contended with changes in broadcasting and intense management stress. In addition, the company and Viacom (NASDAQ:VIAB) are talking about combining again.
Also after the bell, Tableau Software (NYSE:DATA), which builds visualization software sold for desktops or on the cloud, is expected to report a loss of a penny a share in the first quarter on revenue of $287.25 million, according to analysts polled by Investing.com.
That would be up from a loss of 19 cents a share a year ago and up 32% from year-ago revenue of $217.85 million.
The shares are off 0.6% this year but were up 73% in 2018.
3. Market Now Looking at December Rate Cut (Barely)
Investors expressed their post-Fed disappointment today, selling into the close as Fed Chief Jerome Powell poured cold water on expectations for a rate cut.
The FOMC kept rates steady in the range of 2.25% to 2.5%.
“We do think our policy stance is appropriate right now. We don’t see a strong case for moving in either direction,” Powell said during his news conference.
Now the market will be watching Treasuries and fed funds futures for hints of where longer-term monetary policy is heading.
The market was pricing more than a 50% chance that a rate cut would come in September before the decision. But that has been pushed out until December, with a 54.5% chance rates are lower after that meeting, according to Investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool.
The 10-Year Treasury hovered around 2.5%, down slightly in late trading.
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