Investing.com - Here are three things that could rock the markets tomorrow.
1. Retail Inflation Seen Rising, but Still Contained
Inflation numbers lead Thursday’s economic calendar, with the latest on retail prices arriving.
The Labor Department will issue the January consumer price index (CPI) at 8:30 AM ET (13:30 GMT).
The CPI is expected to have risen 0.2% last month, the same as it rose in December, according to economists’ forecasts compiled by Investing.com.
The core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, is forecast to have risen 0.2% for January as well.
At the same time, weekly initial jobless claims figures will also be released.
Claims for first-time unemployment benefits for the week are seen bouncing up to 210,000 from the unexpectedly low 202,000 seen the week before.
2. Nvidia Gives Insight on Chips
As strength in tech stocks continues, investors will be to Nvidia's (NASDAQ:NVDA) earnings after the bell, which are traditionally very important for gauging the health of the semiconductor sector.
Nvidia is expected to post a quarterly profit of $1.66 per share, with revenue coming in at nearly $3 billion, according to forecasts compiled by Investing.com.
The company got a big vote of confidence just before it’s scheduled to report.
Susquehanna boosted its price target on the stock today to $310 per share from $285, the highest price target on Wall Street at present.
“Overall, we believe that NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) is well positioned to outperform peers in (calendar) 2020 as they are set to benefit from a litany of upcoming 7nm launches throughout the year,” Susquehanna analyst Christopher Rolland said in a note.
“Additionally, we believe the company would report a beat-and-raise on Thursday night in a normal environment, but are unsure how management will treat the coronavirus when issuing guidance,” Rolland said.
After the bell today, chip equipment maker Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) rose nearly 3% as it reported results that beat on the top and bottom lines.
3. Alibaba, Pepsi Also Weigh In
Before the bell tomorrow, China e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) will deliver its latest numbers.
The company is expected to earn 15.84 yuan ($2.27) per share on sales of more than $158 billion yuan, according to forecasts compiled by Investing.com.
But those looking for insight into how Covid-19 (coronavirus) is affecting the company could be disappointed.
The results will be for the three-month period just before the outbreak of the disease and Alibaba) doesn’t usually offer guidance.
PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) is also scheduled to report, with some focus likely to be on the performance of and investment in healthier products.
Analysts predicts earnings of $1.44 per share and sales of about $20.2 billion.