Day Ahead: Top 3 Things to Watch for Feb. 25

By Kim Khan

Invesging.com – Retail earnings continue with a glimpse into the health of the home-improvement sector arriving tomorrow.

There will also be further data on the health of the U.S. consumer shortly after Wall Street’s open.

And after oil’s sharp drop today, traders will get some insight from the American Petroleum Institute on how U.S. inventories are faring.

Here are three things (that aren’t the coronavirus) that could move the markets tomorrow,

1. Home Depot Set to Report

component Home Depot (NYSE:) will report results before the bell tomorrow, a company that hasn’t missed on earnings expectations for more than four years.

Analysts predict that the home-improvement retail chain will report a fiscal fourth-quarter of $2.11 per share and sales of nearly $26 billion, according to forecasts compiled by Investing.com.

Last week J.P. Morgan lowered its comparable sales estimates for the quarter below the Wall Street average, Briefing.com reported.

Also issuing numbers ahead of trading will be department store chain Macy’s (NYSE:).

Analysts are looking for fiscal-fourth quarter of $1.96 per share and sales of about $8.3 billion.

Earlier this month, S&P cut its rating on the company’s debt to BB+ from BBB-, leaving outlook stable, saying it sees “considerable execution risks as the company attempts to improve its position in the challenging department store sector.”

2. Consumer Confidence Seen Edging Up

On Tuesday’s economic calendar the consumer will be the big highlight.

The Conference Board will issue its measure of February consumer sentiment at 10:00 AM ET (15:00 GMT).

The is expected to tick up to 132 from 131.6 in January, according to economists forecasts compiled by Investing.com..

3. API Inventories on Tap

Oil prices had their worst one-day plunge since the coronavirus contagion began, ending almost 4% down today as investors continue to fret about global demand destruction.

The developments of Covid-19 will almost certainly call the tune for commodities tomorrow again, but there will be some fundamentals to also provide some market direction.

The American Petroleum Institute will report its measure of U.S. at 4:30 PM ET (21:30 GMT).

Last week API reported a stockpile build of 4.2 million barrels.

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