Investing.com - Here’s a preview of the top 3 things that could rock markets tomorrow.
1. Fed Gets Its Favorite Number
The Federal Reserve’s favorite measure of inflation will likely be the most-anticipated economic number out before the bell tomorrow at 8:30 AM ET (12:30 GMT).
Personal consumption and expenditures, excluding food and energy, or the core PCE price index, is expected to have risen by 0.2% in July, compared with a 0.1% rise in June. Year on year, economists forecast a 2% rise.
The core PCE price index is widely regarded as the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge. If it comes in hotter than expected, it could raise expectations for an interest-rate hike in December.
Traders are already pricing in a 100% chance of a rate rise in September. The core PCE price index is released as part of the personal income and spending numbers. Both are expected to have risen in July, month on month.
Weekly initial jobless claims numbers come at the same time, with economists predicting a small rise from the previous week.
2. Campbell Soup Starting the Fight of the Fall?
Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB) reports earnings tomorrow, but more importantly it will also report on the results of its strategic review.
Activist investor Third Point, run by Daniel Loeb, wants the company to put itself up for sale. But that’s not what the company plans to announce, according to a report in the New York Post.
That could set the stage for a proxy battle for the fate of the company that analysts are calling the “fight of the fall,” according to Reuters.
Shares sank yesterday after the Post report, but finished today higher.
For those investors keeping score at home, the company is expected to earn 24 cents per share for the most recent quarter, on sales of $2.25 billion.
3. Dollar Stores Release Results
Elsewhere on the earnings calendar are more numbers from the retail sector.
Rival discount stores Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR) and Dollar General (NYSE:DG) both weigh in before the bell.
Those numbers will give investors an idea of how the low-cost retail segment is performing in an economy running at a 4.2% pace of growth with very high levels of consumer confidence.
Analysts expect Dollar Tree to post a profit of $1.16 per share on sales of about $5.5 billion. The company has missed earnings estimates the last two quarters. Dollar General is forecast to post a profit of $1.49 per share on sales of about $6.4 billion.
Over the last three months, Dollar General shares have been the clear winner, rising about 11%. Shares of Dollar Tree are down slightly over the same time period.
Also reporting earnings are Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) and Michaels Stores (NASDAQ:MIK).