3 Things to Watch By Investing.com

By Liz Moyer

Investing.com — Investors paused at the Federal Reserve’s latest policy statement on Wednesday looking for any sign from Chairman Jerome Powell that the central bank will budge from its current stance. 

There were no surprises in the announcement. The continued to flirt with a new high after hitting several successive record highs in recent trading sessions.

Though the economy is reopening after Covid lockdowns, unemployment is still elevated. The Fed has said it will let inflation run above 2% and wait for the unemployment picture to improve before it moves on rates, something that doesn’t seem likely this year. Powell says he believes inflation would be transitory as the economy reopens.

Tech companies like Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:), Google’s Alphabet (NASDAQ:) Inc Class C (NASDAQ:) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:) have reported strong earnings, and that trend is expected to continue with the next batch of big tech reports due out starting after today’s close.

Here are three things that could affect markets tomorrow:

1. Two more FAANGs report

Two FAANG giants Apple Inc (NASDAQ:) and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:) report after the closing bell tonight. Apple is expected to report earnings per share of 98 cents on revenue of $76.7 billion. Facebook is expected to report EPS of $2.33 a share on revenue of $23.6 billion. 

2. Amazon on deck

Tomorrow, e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:) is up. It is expected to report earnings of $9.49 per share on revenue of $104.5 billion. Tech companies have reported earnings beats in recent days, with Google parent Alphabet unveiling a monster earnings beat on Tuesday.

3. Economic output

In addition to the weekly data on jobless claims, Thursday brings us the first quarter number, which analysts tracked by Investing.com see coming in at 6.1%, up from 4.3% in the fourth quarter. The number is released at 8:30 AM ET (1230 GMT).