Investing.com - Here’s a preview of the top 3 things that could rock markets tomorrow
1. Fed Speakers, Factory Orders On Tap
With just under three weeks until the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision – widely expected to show Fed members agreed to hike rates by 0.25% - investors are likely to closely monitor speeches from a trio of Federal Reserve speakers due Tuesday.
FOMC Member Bill Dudley, who is slated for 07:30 a.m. ET, recently stoked investor expectations for a faster pace of rate hikes, when he said last week that four rate hikes this year would fit into the Fed’s plans to raise rates gradually.
FOMC Member Brainard, meanwhile is slated for 5:30 p.m. ET, while FOMC Member Kaplan speaks at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Kaplan recently warned: “If the Federal Reserve waits too long to remove accommodation at this stage in the economic cycle, excesses and imbalances begin to build, and the Fed ultimately has to play catch-up."
Aside from speeches from the trio of Fed officials, the U.S. releases factory orders data for January expected to show a decline of 0.4% from 1.7% in December.
The dollar rose against its rivals on Monday amid easing investor fears over a trade war after Trump appeared open to lifting tariffs on aluminium and steel if the North American Free Trade (NAFTA) is renegotiated to terms more favourable to the U.S.
2. U.S. crude oil stockpiles to show unexpected decline?
Traders look ahead to a fresh batch of crude oil inventory data from the American Petroleum Institute due Tuesday.
The American Petroleum Institute reported crude oil stockpiles rose by 0.933 million barrels for the week ended Feb 23. That differed from the Energy Information Administration’s crude supplies total - released a day later - which fell by about 1.6 million barrels last week.
Crude oil futures started the week on the front foot, settling more than 2% higher Monday amid a report showing crude stockpiles at the cushing storage hub in Oklahoma fell suggesting that solid domestic economic growth continued to underpin crude demand.
3. Canadian PMI To Change Gloomy Economic Outlook?
The release of Canadian PMI data called Ivey PMI due Tuesday will be closely watched for any sign of green shoots of economic growth.
The Ivey PMI, which is based on surveys with key managers in leading sectors of the economy and is considered a strong leading indicator for the economy, is expected to show a reading of 56.3 for February, above the read of 55.2 seen in the previous month.
The loonie has struggled to gain upward momentum against the dollar amid concerns over North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations.
USD/CAD rallied to near eight-month highs of C$1.2938 Monday, after US President Donald Trump tweeted that "NAFTA has been a bad deal for U.S.A. Massive relocation of companies & jobs. Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum will only come off if new & fair NAFTA agreement is signed."