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Investing.com — U.S. stocks tumbled again on Wednesday as investors just can’t shake off the worrisome weight of inflation.
Tech stocks have been leading the market swoon as investors dumped riskier bets in recent weeks. Wednesday’s consumer price index for April showed price increases have slowed down but are still at elevated levels. This has fueled speculation that the Federal Reserve could act more aggressively to raise rates at upcoming meetings.
On Thursday, we get producer price information that will tell us how much businesses are getting for their goods and services at the factory. There is expected to be a significant slow down in the growth of the top number and the core number stripping out food and energy.
There will also be data on new jobless claims for last week, and analysts have been watching this to measure the strength of the labor market, which has had multi-decade-low unemployment rates.
Another reading on the economy will be shopping habits. Retailers will report their results next week as the last gasp of the latest earnings season. Though it is somewhat backward looking in terms of the numbers, analysts will be listening to what companies say about store traffic, online sales, and inventory management.
Here are three things that could affect markets tomorrow:
1. Disney earnings
Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) reported after the closing bell today, and shares rallied because it didn’t disappoint on streaming. Adjusted earnings per share of $1.08 compared to expectations of $1.19. Revenue of $19.25 billion compared to expectations for $20 billion. Its Disney+ streaming service had 137.7 million subscribers versus 135 million expected. The shares have fallen 30% since January but could get a bit of a rebound when trading resumes on Thursday.
2. Producer prices
Analysts tracked by Investing.com expect the top line producer price index number to show 10.7% growth year over year and 0.5% month over month. Both would be down from the previous reading.
3. Core prices
Core producer prices, which strip out volatile fuel and other prices, are expected to rise 8.9% for the year and 0.6% for the month, again a deceleration from the prior reading. Both data reports come out at 8:30 AM ET.
