Investing.com – Here’s a preview of the top 3 things that could rock markets tomorrow
It's Jobs Friday
Nonfarm payrolls data, arguably one of the most important economic events of the month, is expected to show the US economy created 184,000 jobs In January.
Economists forecast the jobless rate to remain steady at 4.1% while average hourly earnings for January is expected to rise 0.3% in line with the rise seen in December.
Investors will assess the nonfarm payrolls report for clues about the strength of the economy which could provide fresh direction for the dollar, U.S. 10-Year, and gold, as the Fed has cited that it expects a tightening labor market to spur inflation, which has been on the main headwinds for a faster pace of monetary policy tightening.
In its monetary policy statement on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve said the labor market “continued to strengthen.”
Apple To Rebound?
Shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) fell 1% in after hours trade on Thursday, after the tech giant reported first quarter earnings that beat earnings and revenue expectations but iPhone sales fell short of expectations.
The tech giant posted earnings-per-share (EPS) of $3.89 on $88.3 billion in revenue against analysts’ expectations of EPS of $3.86 on $87.28 billion in revenue. That topped management guidance for the quarter expected revenue to be between $84 billion and $87 billion.
Apple sold 77 million iPhones, which was short of 80 million iPhone sales expected.
Baker Hughes rig count
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 oil rigs operating in the US jumped by 12 to 759, the highest level since Sept. 1.
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 as Goldman Sachs revised upward its forecast for oil prices for the year, amid expectations for a "speedy market rebalancing."