By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com -- Stocks bounced back on Thursday, buoyed by data that said fewer people filed for unemployment benefits last week, a sign of progress in the labor market ahead of Friday’s big jobs report.
Initial jobless claims fell by 14,000 to 385,000 in the week ended July 31, and layoffs dropped to their lowest level in more than 21 years.
Friday’s jobs report for July has been on investors’ minds all week. A weak number might raise questions about the economic recovery but be evidence for the Federal Reserve that it doesn’t have to move off its easy money policy soon.
Robinhood Markets Inc (NASDAQ:HOOD) tumbled 20% after reaching $85 a share on Wednesday. The selloff was sparked when the company announced some of its early investors would sell more than 97 million of stock over time.
Apart from the jobs report, it looks like Friday will be a typical quiet summer day for markets. Here are three things that could affect markets tomorrow:
1. Theater earnings
Movie theaters are trying to come back from the pandemic, when they were forced to shut down. But rising Covid cases are not helping them. There is also the competition from streaming as Hollywood studios push their new films on their own platforms at the same time as releasing them into theaters. Cinemark Holdings Inc (NYSE:CNK)reports its latest quarterly results on Friday. Analysts tracked by Investing.com expect it to announce a loss per share of $1.11 on revenue of $250.76 million.
2. Gambling results
Online and mobile gaming firm DraftKings Inc (NASDAQ:DKNG) is seen posting revenue of $241.95 million and a loss per share of 53 cents for the second quarter. It also reports on Friday.
3. Jobs, jobs, jobs
As previously mentioned, Friday brings us the government’s report on employment for July. The trend is expected to build on the improvement seen a month earlier. According to estimates, nonfarm payrolls in the U.S. are expected to rise by 870,000 in July, more than June’s 850,000 and May’s 583,000. The report is due out at 8:30 AM ET (1230 GMT).