By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com --Stocks reversed a selloff on Wednesday after it appeared a compromise on raising or suspending the U.S. debt ceiling would take the pressure off markets. With a half-hour left in the session, stocks were slightly higher.
Earlier in the day, a stronger than expected report on private payrolls added in September sparked concerns the Federal Reserve could start reining in its monthly bond buying.
The ADP National Employment Report showed private payrolls increased by 568,000 jobs last month. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a rise of 428,000 jobs.
Congress has been gridlocked by Republican opposition to raising the debt ceiling or suspending it another year. Democrats were trying to find a way to approve it on their own, when GOP leaders offered a compromise that would push the decision off to this December, when the government’s stopgap funding also expires.
Shares of Covid-19 vaccine makers were still falling on Wednesday, with sharp drops since last Thursday after Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) revealed its antiviral pill, which many see as a game-changing drug. Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA), BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX) and Novavax Inc (NASDAQ:NVAX) all fell.
The payroll numbers are a prelude to a bigger reading of nonfarm employment that comes out Friday, and could be the deciding factor in the Fed’s bond tapering plan.
Here are three things that could affect markets tomorrow:
1. Food profits
ConAgra Foods Inc (NYSE:CAG), the maker of brands such as Duncan Hines, Bird’s Eye, and Hunt’s, is expected to report profit per share of 48 cents on revenue of $2.52 billion according to analysts tracked by Investing.com. Analysts will be listening to what it says about logistics, food costs and labor trends.
2. Continuing unemployment
Continuing jobless claims in the U.S., a measure of people receiving state unemployment benefits for a while, are expected to fall to 2.780 million in the week ending September 25, from 2.802 million a week before. The data are released at 8:30 AM ET (1230 GMT).
3. New jobless claims
The number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time in the U.S. is seen falling to 348,000 for the week ending October 2 from 362,000 for the week before.