By Liz Moyer
Investing.com -- Stocks staged a rally after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled that rate hikes were going to continue.
"We're not yet in at a sufficiently restrictive policy stance, which is why we say that we expect ongoing hikes will be appropriate," Powell said at a press conference after the Fed raised its benchmark rate by a quarter of a percentage point, as expected. Powell didn't push back as much as expected in the recent easing in financial conditions that have seen risk assets make a strong start to the year.
The Fed continues to watch the tight conditions in the labor market. On Friday, the government will release the jobs data for January. Already this week, investors have seen data that wage pressures are easing for employers and job openings were higher than expected. The market expects the economy to have added fewer jobs in January than the month before.
Thursday will bring a bunch of earnings reports from major tech companies, including Apple, Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Amazon.com. Analysts will be listening to what the executives say about demand and economic conditions as well as costs.
Next week, President Joe Biden will give his State of the Union address to Congress as Democrats and Republicans spar over raising the nation's debt ceiling.
Here are three things that could affect markets tomorrow:
1. Apple earnings
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is expected to report earnings per share of $1.94 on revenue of $121.9 billion, and analysts will be listening to what the iPhone maker says about sales trends.
2. Alphabet earnings
Google-parent Alphabet Inc Class C (NASDAQ:GOOG) is expected to report earnings of $1.18 a share on revenue of $76.07 billion.
3. Amazon.com earnings
E-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) is expected to report earnings of 17 cents on revenue of $145.6 billion.