Investing.com - Here’s a preview of the top 3 things that could rock markets tomorrow
1. U.S. Consumer Inflation, FOMC Minutes on Tap
Following the return of investor appetite for risker assets in the wake of easing trade-war fears, investors look to a report on consumer inflation and the release of the Federal Reserve’s March meeting minutes to guide expectations for future monetary policy action.
Economists expect March core consumer price index (CPI), a measure of inflation, to remain unchanged at 0.2%, while core year-on-year CPI is expected show a rise of 2.1% from 1.8% in February.
Following PPI data that topped economists’ forecasts Tuesday, Bank of Montreal said it would await Wednesday's CPI print to determine if rising input costs were passed onto consumers or whether the costs were mostly absorbed by producer margins.
The Federal Reserve, meanwhile, will publish Wednesday the minutes of its March meeting at which the central bank voted to raise rates by 0.25% and left its forecast for three total rate hikes in 2017 unchanged.
The dollar remained subdued against a basket of major currencies amid sharp losses suffered against both the Canadian and Aussie dollar.
2. EIA Inventory Data in Focus
Inventory data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday is expected to show a modest decline in U.S. stockpiles.
Analysts forecast crude inventories fell by about 189,000 barrels in the week ended April 6.
U.S crude output will also be closely watched after the EIA in its monthly energy outlook report revealed Tuesday that U.S. output rose to an averaged 10.4 million barrels per day (b/d) in March, up 260,000 b/d from the February level.
Crude oil futures settled higher on Tuesday at $65.51 a barrel, up 3.3%, as the prospect of U.S.-led military action in Syria stoked investor expectations of supply disruptions in the Middle East.
3. Zuckerberg: One More Round to Go
Shares of Facebook rose sharply Tuesday after Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg apologised to lawmakers for failing to take correct measures to protect user data but reaffirmed Facebook’s value to society.
Zuckerberg admitted that Facebook failed to notify the FTC about the Cambridge Analytica situation when it occurred because it believed the firm had deleted the data but insisted that the social media company would “welcome the right regulation.”
"We considered it a closed case. In retrospect that was clearly a mistake. We shouldn't have taken their word for it," Zuckerberg said Tuesday.
Zuckerberg is scheduled to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday.
In prepared remarks to members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce released earlier this week, Zuckerberg said that he personally takes the blame for the problems that appear on the social media platform such as fake news and hate speech.
"We didn't take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake," Zuckerberg said. "It was my mistake, and I'm sorry. I started Facebook, I run it, and I'm responsible for what happens here."
Plans to protect the integrity and security of the Facebook platform would include restricting developers’ access to the level of information that had previously been made available, Zuckerberg said.
"If we detect suspicious activity, we'll do a full forensic audit," he said. "And if we find that someone is improperly using data, we'll ban them and tell everyone affected."
Shares of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) closed 4.5% higher at $165.04