© Reuters
By Liz Moyer
Investing.com -- Stocks were on track to close out February on a down note, all but ending an early 2023 rally.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average has erased its gains for the year so far, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq end February lower but are still higher for the year to date.
Fear about higher interest rates is driving the move lower. Investors believe the Federal Reserve will raise rates again at their meetings in March and May, with most agreeing that a quarter percentage point increase at both meetings is most likely. The benchmark rate is expected to reach above 5.1% by the end of the summer.
Investors want more clarity on how long the Fed intends to hold rates at elevated levels before it starts to shift them lower again.
The belief that rate hikes would soon be over helped lift growth stocks from their funk at the start of the year, but hotter-than-expected economic data on the labor market and core inflation has restoked fears that the end is not in sight. On Wednesday more data on manufacturing activity for February will become available, with analysts expecting a slight tick higher.
Data on jobs for February won't be out for another week, however. And that is a key report the Fed will be looking at closely as it heads into its next meeting later in March.
Here are three things that could affect markets tomorrow:
1. Salesforce reports
Business software maker Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) is expected to report earnings of $1.36 a share on revenue of $8 billion. The firm is the target of multiple activist investors all aimed at wringing more profitability out of it.
2. Snowflake earnings
Cloud company Snowflake Inc (NYSE:SNOW) is expected to report earnings of just over 4 cents a share on revenue of $576.2 million. Investors will be listening to what it says about spending on cloud services.
3. Retail earnings
Dollar Tree Inc (NASDAQ:DLTR) is expected to report earnings of $2.02 a share on revenue of $7.6B, while Lowe’s Companies Inc (NYSE:LOW) is expected to report earnings of $2.21 a share on revenue of $22.7B. Analysts will be listening to what the retailers say about consumer spending, costs, and inventory.
