Fed Statement, Qualcomm, CVS Health Earnings: 3 Things to Watch

By Liz Moyer

Investing.com -- Stocks fell on Tuesday as investors awaited the latest signal from the Federal Reserve on interest rates.

That news comes out Wednesday afternoon, and expectations are high for another 0.75 percentage point hike. But what everyone really wants to know is what the Fed is thinking about what comes next. Some hope to hear Chair Jerome Powell talk about easing off on such aggressively large rate increases, perhaps as early as December. 

That thinking has been encouraged by some data in recent weeks that show the economy is cooling off. Some of those hopes were dashed earlier Tuesday when the job opening number for September was stronger than expected. 

Later this week, on Friday, the official jobs report for October will be released. The expectation is that the economy added something like 200,000 jobs in the month. A bigger-than-expected jump could spark a stock sell-off, in a good news is bad news moment for markets.

Here are three things that could affect markets tomorrow:

1. Fed statement

The Fed's statement is expected out at 14:00 ET (18:00 GMT), and then Chair Powell will talk to news reporters at a press conference starting at 14:30 ET. The press conference is broadcast live.

2. Qualcomm earnings

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) is seen reporting earnings per share of $3.15 on revenue of $11.3 billion. Analysts will be listening for what it says about supply chains and the worldwide chip shortage amid a fall off in demand for electronics.

3. CVS Health earnings

CVS Health Corp (NYSE:CVS)is expected to report earnings per share of $2 on revenue of $76.7 billion.