Investing.com - Here's a preview of the top 3 things that could rock markets Friday, May 4.
1. It's Jobs Friday
Investors will likely look to nonfarm payrolls data due 08:30 am ET – arguably one of the most important economic events of the month – to gauge whether tightness in the labor market, boosted wage growth in April.
Nonfarm payrolls are expected to show 189,000 jobs were created in April.
Economists forecast the jobless rate to decline to 4% while average hourly earnings for April is expected to cooled 0.2% from 0.3% in the previous month.
Morgan Stanley estimated nonfarm payrolls to come in at 145,000 amid expectations that April’s adverse weather likely weighed on some sectors, including retail and manufacturing.
Investors will assess the nonfarm payrolls report for clues about the strength of the economy which could provide fresh direction for the dollar, the policy sensitive United States 2-Year bond and the US stock market.
2. Alibaba: Open Sesame
Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd (NYSE:BABA) will be one of the main names in focus on Friday as the Far East e-commerce giant is slated to reveal fiscal fourth quarter earnings before U.S. markets open.
Alibaba is expected to report earnings of $0.84 per share on revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter.
Expectations for revenue growth are high as the Hangzhou-based company has generated above 50% growth for seven quarters in a row, driven by its ecommerce platform – responsible for the bulk of total revenue.
The growth of its e-commerce platform relies on a sustained increase in the number of users that frequent its platform and the length of time they spend on the platform, so investors will likely scrutinize the firm’s monthly active users (MAUs) growth.
Alibaba increased its monthly active users (MAU) by 31 million quarter over quarter in the fiscal third quarter, to a total of 580 million.
Cloud – the second largest source of revenue – will also garner attention after the segment grew 104% year-on-year in the fiscal third quarter.
Investors are also keen for an update on the firm’s efforts to merge online and offline commerce as part of its “new retail” strategy.
3. Baker Hughes Rig Count Data to Signal Further US Output Expansion?
The weekly instalment of drilling activity from Baker Hughes on Friday, will provide investors with fresh insight into U.S. oil production and demand after data last week showed the number of U.S. oil rigs rose for the fourth week in a row.
The weekly rig count is an important barometer for the drilling industry and serves as a proxy for oil production and oil services demand.
Crude futures settled higher on Thursday, after Iran said it was unwilling to renegotiate terms of the 2015 accord, insisting that U.S. president Trump should abide by the original deal.