Investing.com - Here’s a preview of the top 3 things that could rock markets today.
1. Target , Lowe’s to Report
Target (NYSE:TGT) continues the week of retail earnings tomorrow with its report before trading opens.
The discount retail chain is expected to report a profit of $1.43 per share for the quarter on sales of about $17.5 billion, according to analysts’ estimates compiled by Investing.com.
Comparable-store sales are predicted to rise 4% for the period, according to Briefing.com.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) upgraded shares of Target to equal weight from underweight yesterday, reiterating its price target of $67 and calling the company a “retail survivor”.
Following Home Depot 's(NYSE:HD) better-than-expected results today, archrival Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW) will weigh in tomorrow morning.
Analysts expect that the home improvement retailer earned $1.33 per share, with sales coming in at about $17.7 billion.
2. FOMC Minutes Coming
The Federal Reserve will release the minutes of its last Federal Open Market Committee meeting.
The minutes minutes will come out at 2:00 PM ET (18:00 GMT).
The FOMC held interest rates steady at the start of the month, as expected, but investors will want to see any differing views on the path of rates later this year.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell was pretty blunt at his post-meeting press conference, saying there’s no case for a hike or a cut.
“We do think our policy stance is appropriate right now,” Powell said. “We don’t see a strong case for moving in either direction.”
Along with parsing the minutes for any dissent to that view, the market will be focused on more details on economic projections and the Fed balance sheet.
Right now, fed funds futures are pricing in about a 65% chance that rates will be lower after the final meeting of the year in December, according to Investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool.
3. Analysts Unsure on Oil Inventories
Oil prices aren’t the only thing struggling for direction in the crude market. Analysts are having a tough time predicting what’s going to happen with oil inventories tomorrow.
The Energy Information Administration will report the weekly crude, gasoline and distillate stockpile numbers at 10:30 AM ET (14:30 GMT).
Estimates for oil inventories have been bouncing around. The Investing.com consensus currently calls for a drop of 600,000 barrels of crude, down from a drawdown of more than 2 million barrels earlier in the day.
Other estimates have been calling for a build by as much as 3 million barrels.
Inventories tend to fall as the U.S. moves into the summer months and the peak driving season, but near-record oil production is making the market wary.
The American Petroleum Institute reported a rise of 2.4 million barrels of crude in its estimate out late today.