Fed Minutes, Trade Balance, Let’s Take a Cruise: 3 Things to Watch By Investing.com

By Christiana Sciaudone

Investing.com — Markets closed slightly lower Tuesday after a record Monday. 

Tech companies were lower, with the exception of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX). Financials were also larger down. On the upside, ViacomCBS Inc (NASDAQ:VIAC) and Discovery (NASDAQ:DISCA) made a comeback after getting hit by the Archegos debacle, and Peloton (NASDAQ:PTON) made a comeback on Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN)’s initiation.

Good news abounds: The International Monetary Fund lifted its global growth forecast to 6% in 2021, up from its prior forecast of 5.5%, California said it would almost fully reopen as of June 15, while maintaining its mask mandate, and Europe’s expected to bounce back quickly after lockdowns end. 

On Wednesday, we’ll get some insight from the Fed and a ballooning trade balance.

Here are three things that could affect markets tomorrow:

1. Fed minutes

We’ll get a little more insight into what policy makers were thinking about inflation and the current state of the Federal Reserve’s bond-buying program when the minutes of last month’s Open Market Committee meeting are released. Those will hit at 2:00 PM ET (1800 GMT).

2. Trade balance 

Economists expect the trade deficit to have ballooned to a record level in February. Consensus calls for a gap of $70.5 billion when the data are released at 8:30 AM ET. That’s up from the $68.2 billion deficit in January.

3. Cruise, anyone?

Carnival (NYSE:CUK) reports results before the market opens. Expect the focus to be on booking trends and when ships can set sail again. Revenue and profit are expected to be non-existent since it’s kind of hard to generate both from the pier.