Futures for today (Wednesday) were up 33 points on news that private employers added 182,000 jobs in October, beating consensus expectations by a slim margin. A busy day of data and testimony by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen before Congress will complement a wealth of earnings reports. With the ADP jobs report beating expectations of 180,000 positions for October, all eyes will now turn to Friday’s official jobs report from the U.S. Labor Department.
On Tuesday, the Dow added 89 points as energy stocks surged despite supply concerns around the globe. Energy stocks are now up 23% since August but still remain down 10% year to date. The Nasdaq continued to gather steam, adding 17 points as the exchange prepares for a busy day of earnings today. The tech sector added roughly 0.5% after shares of Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT) each rose more than 1.2%.
Top News in the Stock Market Today
The Stock Market Today: Today, five members of the U.S. Federal Reserve will speak, including testimony by Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen before the House Financial Services Committee. Traders will seek any hints on when the central bank may raise interest rates. Meanwhile, the jobs market will be in focus with the release of the October ADP private employment report. Investors will also parse through monthly data on international trade, weekly oil inventories, and the PMI Services Index.
Oil Outlook: Oil prices were on the rise this morning as concerns about supply in Brazil rattled trader sentiment. December futures for WTI crude were up about 0.2% to hit $48.01 per barrel, while Brent crude added 0.3% to trade at $50.67 per barrel. Brazil’s largest oil workers’ union has walked out on a strike due to outrage related to expected cuts planned by Petrobas, the nation’s largest oil producer.
Earnings Outlook: FB, KORS, WFM, SODA, DDD, RIG, QCOM
Earnings Report No. 1, FB: After the bell, Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) will report third-quarter earnings. Wall Street analysts expect the social media giant to report earnings of $0.52 per share on revenue of $4.39 billion.
Earnings Report No. 2, KORS: This morning, shares of Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: KORS) gained more than 5% after it crushed fiscal second-quarter top and bottom line earnings by a wide margin. The company reported an EPS of $1.01 on revenue of $1.13 billion. That’s well above Wall Street expectations of earnings of $0.89 per share on $1.07 billion in revenue.
Earnings Report No. 3, WFM: After the bell, Whole Foods Market Inc. (Nasdaq: WFM) will report quarterly earnings for the fourth quarter. The healthy grocer is expected to report an EPS of $0.35 on revenue of $3.48 billion.
Additional companies reporting earnings include Sodastream International Ltd. (Nasdaq: SODA), 3D Systems Corp. (NYSE: DDD), Qualcomm Inc. (Nasdaq: QCOM), and Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG).
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