Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Friday, April 28:
1. U.S. to gauge first quarter economic health
The U.S. is to release preliminary figures on first quarter economic growth at 8:30AM ET (12:30GMT) Friday.
According to consensus, the data is expected to show that the economy expanded at an annual rate of 1.1% in the first three months of 2017, easing from growth of 2.1% in the fourth quarter.
However, two regional Fed banks strongly disagree over first quarter growth with Atlanta expecting an anemic increase of just 0.2% while New York forecast a 2.7% expansion.
2. Earnings season passes half-way point
With 54% of S&P 500 firms having already reported earnings for the first quarter period, 76% of these companies have beat earnings-per-share (EPS) estimates while 69% have topped consensus on sales, according to The Earnings Scout.
“Our research indicates that EPS growth in the first quarter is likely to be between 12% and 14%,” these experts said, but warned that it would also be the peak.
For Friday’s session, investors will keep eyes on earnings from the likes of Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) or Goodyear Tire & Rubber (NASDAQ:GT).
Investors will also have the chance to price in results from tech companies released after Thursday’s close.
Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)'s profit rose 29% on strong ad sales sending shares around 4% higher in after hours trade late Thursday.
Shares in Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) were gaining more than 3% in pre-market trade Friday on the back of soaring retail and cloud-computing sales.
3. Global stocks show caution ahead of American economic growth
Global stocks saw mixed trade on Thursday as markets prepared to receive a report on the state of the world’s largest economy.
U.S. stock futures pointed to a flat open on Friday while waiting for the first quarter GDP data. At 5:57AM ET (9:57GMT), the blue-chip Dow futures gained 0.03%, S&P 500 futures edged forward 0.08% and the Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.05%.
Elsewhere, European equities traded slightly higher as euro zone inflation rose a bit more than expected. At 5:58AM ET (9:58GMT), the benchmark Euro Stoxx 500 gained 0.22, Germany’s DAX inched up 0.04%, France’s CAC 40 rose 0.22%, while London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.31% after the U.K. showed weaker-than-expected economic growth in the first quarter.
Earlier, Asian shares ended mixed as U.S. President Donald Trump said that a "major, major" conflict with North Korea is possible but he is looking for a diplomatic answer and investors digested mixed economic data out of Japan.
4. Oil struggles to erase weekly losses amid glut worries
Oil prices rose on Friday but were still on track for a second straight weekly loss on concerns that an OPEC-led production cut has failed to significantly tighten an oversupplied market.
In that light, investors looked ahead to data on U.S. drilling activity out later on Friday.
Last week, Baker Hughes reported that rigs were added for the 14th week in a row, extending a 10-month drilling recovery. That brought the total count to 688, the most since September 2015.
U.S. crude oil futures gained 0.59% to $49.26 at 6:00AM ET (10:00GMT), while Brent oil traded up 0.50% to $52.08.
5. Government shutdown looms
The U.S. Congress took steps to extend until May 5 the deadline for reaching a deal on federal spending through September and head off a feared government shutdown at midnight on Friday.
Republicans introduced a bill on Wednesday to fund government operations at current levels for one more week, giving them more time to finish negotiations with Democrats on a spending plan for the rest of the fiscal year ending Sept. 30.
The legislation was likely to be voted on by the House of Representatives and Senate on Friday, meaning that if it passes, it would have to be rushed to President Donald Trump to sign into law promptly.
President Donald Trump downplayed the severity of a potential government shutdown on Thursday, telling Reuters in an interview that “if there's a shutdown, there's a shutdown.”