Investing.com - Here’s a preview of the top 3 things that could rock markets tomorrow
1. Geopolitical Tensions, Jobless Claims, Kashakri Speech on Tap
While geopolitical tensions are expected to remain front and centre on Thursday, U.S. economic data could provide a much needed distraction with jobless claims, trade data and a speech by Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari on tap.
The Labor Department releases its weekly count of the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the week ended April 6, expected to show jobless claims rose to 231,000 from 242,000 the prior week. Continuing jobless claims are forecast to rise to 1.848 million from 1.808m the prior week.
Economists’ forecast the export price index growth remained unchanged at 0.2% in March, while import price index growth is expected to decline to 0.1%.
On the monetary policy front, investors will look to a speech by Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari at 5.00 p.m. ET.
The Minneapolis Federal Reserve bank’s president speech is due as investors digested somewhat hawkish Federal Reserve minutes released Wednesday.
The minutes of the Federal Reserve March meeting did little to knock confidence of further rate hikes as Fed Committee members remained confident of continued economic growth and appeared more optimistic on inflation hitting the Fed’s 2% target.
While the Fed minutes helped the dollar to pare some of its losses against its rivals, sentiment on the greenback remained negative amid rising geopolitical tensions.
2. OPEC Monthly Report to Upstage Geopolitical Fuelled Oil Rally?
Investors will look a monthly OPEC monthly report to assess whether the oil-cartel stuck to agreed production curbs. Revision to oil demand growth and supply is also expected to garner attention after OPEC warned of rising non-OPEC production, led by the United States.
In its most recent report released in March, OPEC said non-OPEC producers would boost supply by 1.66 million barrels per day in 2018.
Crude futures rose 2% to settle at $66.82 a barrel as concerns over a massive build in crude stockpiles were offset by rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and expectations of U.S. military intervention in Syria.
3. Investors Take Bearish Turn on Tesla Despite Model Y News
There’s a dark cloud looming over shares of Tesla as Goldman Sachs cut its price target on stock to $195 from $205, MarketWatch reported, citing a research note.
The bank said Tesla would likely raise capital this year, and questioned whether the electric carmaker would be able to meet its production targets.
Tesla's "sustainable production rate at present is likely below 2,000 Model 3s," around 1,400 a week, the Goldman Sachs said in the note, according to MarketWatch.
That is well below Tesla's second-quarter forecast to produce 5,000 Model 3s a week.
Also adding to bearish sentiment on Tesla was a Factset report, noting that more than 25% of Tesla’s available stock was sold short. The dollar amount of shares shorted on Tesla rose 28% in the last month to $10.7 billion, CNBC said, citing an update from S3 Partners.
The downbeat note on Tesla comes amid a Reuters report that the company is targeting November 2019 as the start of production for its Model Y sport utility vehicle, with production in China to begin two years later.
Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell 1.24% to $300.93.