Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Thursday, March 28:
1. U.S. Q4 GDP - Final Estimate
Following a batch of underwhelming economic reports, the final reading of fourth-quarter U.S. growth will be the main event for financial markets, as investors watch for further signals on the strength of the economy.
The U.S. Commerce Department will release final figures on fourth-quarter economic growth at 8:30AM ET (12:30 GMT).
It is expected to show the economy expanded at an annual rate of 2.4% in the last three months of 2018, downwardly revised from a preliminary estimate of 2.6%. It expanded by 3.4% in the third quarter of last year.
A report on initial jobless claims is also due at 8:30AM ET (12:30 GMT), followed by the latest data on pending home sales at 10AM ET (14:00 GMT).
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a cautiously higher open ahead of the data.
At 5:50AM ET (9:50 GMT), the blue-chip Dow futures were up 27 points, or about 0.1%, the S&P 500 futures inched up 3 points, or around 0.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a gain of 7 points, or roughly 0.1%.
In the bond market, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was at 2.38%, after hitting an overnight low of 2.34%, a level not seen since December 2017. Meanwhile, the yield on the three-month Treasury bill stood at 2.44%.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.2% at 96.49.
2. Fed Speakers
Market players will also pay close attention to comments from a parade of Federal Reserve officials for insights into the outlook for monetary policy in the months ahead.
Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida, Governors Randal Quarles and Michelle Bowman and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard are all set to comment on the world’s largest economy at separate events throughout the day.
The Fed last week suggested no rate increases would come this year - after indicating in December that two could take place. The U.S. central bank also indicated it intends to end the reduction of its massive $4.2 trillion balance sheet by September.
3. U.S. Trade Team Arrives in Beijing
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin arrived in Beijing for a new round of talks with Chinese officials to work on a deal that would end a months-long trade war.
The in-person talks, which will be followed by a round in Washington next week, are the first face-to-face meetings the two sides have held in weeks after missing an initial end-of-March goal for a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to sign a pact.
China has made unprecedented proposals on a range of issues including forced technology transfer as the two sides work to overcome remaining obstacles, U.S. officials said ahead of the talks, U.S. officials said ahead of the talks.
4. Turkey Turmoil
The Turkish lira plunged as much as 5% against the dollar in the latest day of turbulent trading ahead of the local elections this weekend that may see President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party lose control of some major cities.
The lira was last at 5.5375 against the U.S. currency, down around 4% on the day.
Polls suggest Erdogan could be defeated in the capital Ankara, in what would be a damning judgment on the President's increasingly autocratic style of government.
The nationwide local elections are the first since last year's currency meltdown.
Turkey's central bank has taken a range of measures to stop the lira being shorted, something for which Erdogan has blamed foreign speculators - notably JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM).
Read more: Turkey Markets Unraveling Fast: Jesse Colombo
5. Brexit Stalemate
The U.K.’s House of Commons voted against all eight of the alternatives to Prime Minister Theresa May’s divorce deal last night in London, leaving the Brexit process as deadlocked as ever.
May told her Conservative lawmakers she would step down if her Brexit deal was finally passed by parliament at the third attempt, in a last-ditch bid to win over many of her party's euroskeptic rebels.
But some were unmoved and the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party, which is crucial to getting the agreement through, said it would reject the deal again.
As such, the default outcome is still that the U.K. leaves the EU on April 12th without a deal.
Sterling was down 0.4% against the dollar at $1.3130.
-- Reuters contributed to this report