The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI) snapped its five-day losing streak yesterday with a 0.70% gain, but can the bulls win out again today? Let's take a peek at what might drive another day of gains or what might tip the market toward losses.
European worries
Yesterday, markets approved the falling Spanish and Italian bond yields after comments by a European Central Bank member hinted at potential further action for intervention. The STOXX 50 (INDEX: ^STOXX50E) gained 0.85% yesterday and the FTSE 100 (INDEX: ^FTSE) rose 0.70%. Investors will closely watch any further news regarding Spain or Italy.
Economic reports galore
This morning will see the release of the weekly initial and continuing jobless-claim numbers. The market expects 355,000 initial claims, down from last week's 357,000, and 3.35 million continuing claims, up from last week's 3.33 million.
The Producer Price Index (PPI) will also be released, giving an insight into inflation for March. Core PPI, which excludes any inflation from energy and food, is expected to grow by 0.2%, which will match February's growth.
The last economic report for the morning will be regarding international trade, which can give insight into domestic and overseas demand. The market expects a trade balance of negative-$53 billion for February, slightly more than January's negative-$52.6 billion.
Tomorrow
Alcoa (NYSE: AA) blew out analysts' expectations of a $0.04 loss per share with $0.09 in positive earnings for its first quarter, and now the next up to report is JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) on Friday. While Alcoa's earnings surprise boosted the stock 6.2% yesterday, JPMorgan will have to buck the trend of its falling profits to meet expectations of $1.16 per share. In the fourth quarter, JPMorgan's profit fell more than 22% when it posted $0.90 earnings per share. Expectations are still lower than last year's first-quarter earnings of $1.28 per share.
Get ready for more earnings
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