Here’s a preview of the top 3 things that could rock markets tomorrow.
1. Tariffs, Tariffs, Tariffs
As trading ended Monday, all seemed well on the U.S.-China trade talks. A Chinese delegation was heading to Washington with a 100-or-so team members. And the Chinese planned to continue the talks with their counterparts from the Trump administration.
Stocks ended well off their lows.
The reason was that investors and traders believed that President Donald Trump’s threat to bump up tariffs from 10% to 25% from some $200 billion in Chinese-made goods was simply a negotiating tactic.
Maybe it is, but late Monday afternoon in a session with reporters, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the tariffs will be imposed on Friday because, he said, China is reneging on earlier commitments.
Futures markets immediately tanked, with Dow futures off 297 points, S&P 500 futures down 38 points and NASDAQ 100 futures down 126 points.
Prices for Corn, soybeans and Wheat, vulnerable to the vagaries of the trade dispute, also moved lower.
What exactly the issue might be isn’t clear. Lighthizer wasn’t saying, and, in the meantime, the Chinese delegation was still on its way to Washington for talks now set for Thursday and Friday. A mystery is if Liu He, the Chinese vice premier overseeing economic policy, will attend the talks.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said while some concerns arose last week when he and Lighthizer were in Beijing for talks, they received some reassurances. Then, over the weekend, the talks went “substantially backward.”
2. Beaten-Down (NASDAQ:Lytf) Hopes for an Earnings Boost
On the earnings calendar tomorrow, everyone will be looking for the newbie after the bell.
Ride-sharing company Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) reports postmarket. On average, analysts are looking for a loss of $3.33 per share, according to forecasts compiled by .
Revenue is expected to come in at about $740 million.
This is Lyft’s first earnings report since it’s debut at the end of March. Since then, it’s been hammered by the market.
Shares are down more than 22% since the first day of trading.
Also reporting results after the bell is video game company Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA).
EA is expected to report a profit of 99 cents per share on revenue of about $1.2 billion. Both would be down from the year-ago period.
But investors will be most interested in any updates on its game pipeline and guidance for the next quarter.
3. Will API Storm up Like EIA?
The American Petroleum Institute's petroleum data, which showed a second-straight build last week, will be in spotlight on Tuesday, as U.S. output remains at record highs.
Higher U.S. crude output and supplies has been outlined as one of the factors that could keep a lid on oil prices ahead of the upcoming summer driving season, which tends to boost demand for crude.
Crude oil inventories for the week ended 26 April, showed total production reached a record of 12.3 million barrels a day, the Energy Information Administration said last week.
As well as China trade trouble, higher U.S. inventories, rig counts and production adds to some recent bearishness from crude fundamentals heading into the summer demand season, said Robbie Fraser at Schneider Electric (PA:SCHN).
WTI crude settled 31 cents higher at $62.25 a barrel after the United States deployed bombers and a carrier strike group to the Middle East in response to Iranian threats, stoking tensions in the region.
