By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com -- The S&P 500and NASDAQ Composite were on track to hit record closing highs on Tuesday in the final hour of trading, lifted by oil and travel stocks as full regulatory approval for Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine stoked hopes for a recovery sooner rather than later.
Cruise operators including Carnival (NYSE:CUK) Corporation (NYSE:CCL) rose, as did shares of casino companies MGM Resorts International (NYSE:MGM) and Wynn Resorts Limited (NASDAQ:WYNN). Airlines also rose.
Soaring Covid-19 infections linked to the highly contagious Delta variant has shaken Wall Street this month on concerns about a slowing economic recovery.
On Monday, the Food and Drug Administration granted full approval of the vaccine, which Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) is distributing with BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX), offering hope that more people would get their shots and halt the spreading virus.
Later this week, Federal Reserve officials will kick off their annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo., where Chair Jerome Powell could offer some hints about the central bank’s next policy moves. Many anticipate the Fed will begin to scale back its monthly bond buying, but when and how much is still a matter of debate.
Analysts were also watching for the release of oil inventory data for last week, first on Tuesday by the industry and second on Wednesday from the government. That could set the tone for oil trading and oil stocks going into the Labor Day weekend.
Here are three things that could affect markets tomorrow:
1. Salesforce earnings
Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM) is expected to announce on Wednesday second-quarter earnings per share of 92 cents on revenue of $6.24 billion, according to analysts tracked by Investing.com. The cloud-based customer relationship management software maker is one of the last big technology companies to report.
2. Snowflake earnings
Snowflake Inc (NYSE:SNOW) is seen posting revenue of $256.13 million and a loss per share of 14 cents for the second quarter. The company provides cloud-based data storage services, something that has boomed despite the pandemic.
3. Ulta earnings
Ulta Beauty Inc (NASDAQ:ULTA) is seen clocking an EPS of $2.50 on revenue of $1.74 billion in the second quarter. The cosmetics and beauty product retailer is seen benefiting from the back to school and back to work trend.