By Liz Moyer
Investing.com -- Stocks rose on Tuesday after new data on producer prices for October showed inflation cooling, stoking hopes the Federal Reserve can start to ease back on its pace of interest rate hikes.
Tech stocks were buoyed on the news. The Fed next meets in December. Many analysts are now expecting to see a half-point rate increase, which would be smaller than the four consecutive 0.75 percentage point increases it has already done this year. The Fed is trying to tame inflation without tipping off large job losses, and there have been fears in recent weeks that it would overshoot its mark. Yet Fed officials, including Vice Chair Lael Brainard, have lately been hinting that a slower pace of rate increases could be under consideration.
That would be good news for growth stock investors. The sector has been bogged down this year by rising rates threatening to crimp growth.
This is a big week for retail earnings, too, and something investors are watching closely for signs of what the holiday sales season will bring.
Here are three things that could affect markets tomorrow:
1. Retail sales
The retail sales reading for October is due out at 8:30 ET (13:30 GMT). Analysts expect the month-to-month reading to rise 1% after remaining flat the prior month.
2. Retail earnings
After a solid report from Walmart (NYSE:WMT) on Tuesday, analysts will look to earnings from Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) and Lowe’s Companies Inc (NYSE:LOW) on Wednesday. Target is expected to report earnings per share of $2.16 on revenue of $26.4 billion. Lowe's, following a strong report from Home Depot (NYSE:HD), is expected to report earnings per share of $3.08 on revenue of $23.1B.
3. Nvidia earnings
Chip maker NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is expected to report earnings per share of 71 cents on revenue of $5.8B. Analysts will be listening to what it says about demand amid a slump in sales of PCs and other devices.