Investing.com – Here’s a preview of the top 3 things that could rock markets tomorrow
US manufacturing and jobs data on tap
Market participants look ahead to the release of a duo of economic reports on Thursday, which may offer further guidance on the strength of manufacturing and the U.S. labor market.
The Federal Reserve bank of Philadelphia’s manufacturing index is expected to show a dip in manufacturing activity to a seasonally adjusted 24.0 in July, from 27.6 in the preceding month.
A level above zero on the index indicates improving conditions; below indicates worsening conditions.
On the jobs data front, economists forecast a 2,000 decline to 245,000 in the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the week ended July 16.
Rate Day: European Central Bank
The euro could turn out to be the ‘currency of the day’ on Thursday, as all eyes will be fixed on an interest rate decision from the European Central Bank followed by a press conference from ECB president Mario Draghi.
Market participants will parse Draghi’s press conference carefully for any subtle shift in language concerning future monetary policy action amid expectations that Draghi is likely to offer further details on the central bank’s plan to taper its massive bond-buying programme.
At the ECB’s annual forum in June, Draghi claim that “reflationary forces” had replaced deflationary ones, fuelling investor speculation that the central bank was poised to tighten its policy, sending the euro soaring.
The central bank, however, later claimed that market participants had misunderstood Draghi’s comments.
eBay earnings in the spotlight
eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) is set to report second-quarter earnings after the US closing bell on Thursday amid a flurry of investor fanfare, as recent improvements to its platform are expected to have bolstered financial performance.
eBay improved fundamental aspects of its platform, revamping its home page and changing how browsing pages are linked together in an effort to boost traffic and conversion rates.
Investors will be keen to establish whether eBay’s price matching guarantee – an initiative that aims to match pricing from competitors including Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN), Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT), Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) – has improved user engagement and conversion.
Ebay’s newly introduced initiatives and improvements to its product are expected to ramp up operating costs, which rose to 47.6% of sales during the first quarter.
Analysts expect eBay to report earnings and revenue of $0.45 and $2.31 billion, respectively.