Investing.com -- Stocks soared on Thursday as investors reacted to signals from the Federal Reserve that it could be close to the end of its interest rate increases after raising rates above 5% since early 2022.
The Fed held rates steady after its latest policy meeting on Wednesday. Though Chair Jerome Powell left room for another rate increase before the end of the year, the market is seeing this as potentially the end of that cycle. Futures traders see an 80% probability the Fed will leave rates alone in December, too.
Friday's job report for October is going to be one of the data sets the Fed looks at when deciding its next step.
But beyond that, investors have been listening to corporate CEOs talk about resilient consumer demand even in the face of inflation, rising oil prices, and the resumption of student loan payments this month. The National Retail Federation is forecasting a solid holiday sales season, with record dollar amounts and growth of about 3% to 4% over 2022 sales. That is consistent with the annual average growth of holiday sales before the pandemic. The trade group also sees retailers hiring as many as 450,000 workers for the season to keep up with demand.
Retailers will start reporting their latest quarterly numbers in the coming weeks, and investors will be listening to what CEOs say about store traffic trends, discounting, and inventory heading into the heart of the holiday shopping season.
Here are three things that could affect markets tomorrow:
1. Jobs report
The October jobs report will come out at 8:30 ET (12:30 GMT). Analysts expect to see the economy add 188,000 jobs, down from September's 336,000. The unemployment rate is expected to remain the same, however, at 3.8%.
2. Restaurant Brands International
Burger King and Tim Horton's parent Restaurant Brands International Inc (NYSE:QSR) is expected to report earnings per share of $1.16 on revenue of $2.5 billion.
3. Cinemark
The movie theater operator Cinemark Holdings Inc (NYSE:CNK) is expected to report earnings per share of 38 cents on revenue of $836.6 million.