Jobless claims, Apple earnings, Shell earnings: 3 things to watch

Investing.com -- Stocks sold off after the Federal Reserve raised rates and then suggested a pause was in the cards at its next meeting in June.

That'll all depend on what key economic reports say in the coming weeks, including Friday's job report for April, which is expected to show job growth slowed again. 

Companies have been reporting mixed first quarter earnings. Some companies are benefitting by raising their prices, while others have seen demand slowdown as other companies adjust spending on things like cloud computing and digital advertising amid an uncertain economic outlook.

The Fed is studying how much its actions to date have succeeded in cooling inflation, which it has been wrestling with since last year. Successive interest rate increases have begun to weigh on parts of the economy, including the banking and commercial real estate sectors. Some have worried that the Fed might overstep and tip the economy into a recession at some point this year.

In June the Fed will provide another dot-plot chart of Fed policy maker projections for economic growth, inflation, unemployment and other metrics for the coming months.

Here are three things that could affect markets tomorrow:

1. Unemployment claims

Unemployment claims for last week are expected to rise to 240,000 from 230,000. The data are due out at 8:30 ET.

2. Apple earnings

Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is expected to report earnings per share of $1.43 on revenue of $92.9 billion.

3. Shell (LON:RDSa) earnings

Oil giant Shell PLC ADR (NYSE:SHEL) is expected to report earnings per share of $2.09 on revenue of $78.99 billion.