Investing.com - Here’s a preview of the top 3 things that could rock markets tomorrow.
1. Apple Dominates the Earnings Day
The foot is off the gas a little in earnings before the bell and eyes will be on Apple tomorrow, which issues results postmarket.
Shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) have averted the bloodbath in tech of the last month, trading lower but in a modest range. But the stock is higher over the last three months.
On average, analysts expect the company to post a profit of $2.78 per share on revenue of about $61.4 billion.
Total iPhone sales tend to be the big metric, with Zacks predicting a little fewer than 47 million in the quarter. The new iPhones should have less of an impact, being released later in the period.
Also reporting after the bell is Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX), with analysts forecasting a rise in earnings and sales from the same quarter a year ago.
Before the start of trading, health insurance giant Cigna (NYSE:CI) will weigh in with numbers. And there will be results from insurer MetLife (NYSE:MET) as well postmarket.
2. Jobless Claims, ISM Manufacturing Highlight Economic Data
Economic indicators for tomorrow bring another batch of employment numbers ahead of Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report.
Initial jobless claims for last week arrive at 8:30 AM ET (12:30 GMT).
On average, economists predict that claims for first-time unemployment benefits stayed roughly the same at 213,000 last week.
Continuing claims are forecast to have risen slightly to 1.64 million from 1.636 million.
At 10:00 AM ET, the Institute of Supply Management’s manufacturing purchasers managing index (PMI) is reported.
The measure of manufacturing activity is expected to have ticked down to 59 in October from 59.8 in September.
A small drop in the ISM’s employment measure is also forecast.
3. Gold Could Be in for Trouble as Risk Appetite Returns
Gold has been struggling to have much overall market impact this year. But the next few trading days could be interesting, coming off its best monthly gain since January at a time when equities are finding their feet again.
Gold futures ended up 2% for October, but looked set to post much stronger gains before this week when the rally in stock markets pulled money back into riskier assets.
If the yellow metal slides near term, it could be a further indication that risk is back on the table in places like beleaguered tech stocks.
Still, some analyst believe that gold’s October performance is nothing to sneeze at given the background of a stronger dollar, which tends to hurt gold prices.
“I don‘t expect the rug to be pulled out from under the gold price,” said Walter Pehowich, executive vice president at Dillon Gage Metals in Addison, Texas. “At this juncture though, we need a lower dollar and lower equity prices for gold to recover.”