April jobs, Warner Bro. Discovery, Cigna earnings: 3 things to watch

Investing.com -- Stocks gave way on Thursday as fears about the banking system outweighed optimism that the Federal Reserve was nearing the end of its rate hikes.

Futures traders are betting that the Fed will pause on rates at its next meeting in June after raising them another quarter of a percentage point this week. The Fed says its future actions will depend on what the data show.

One big piece of the puzzle comes Friday morning, with the job report for April expected to show job growth decelerated last month.

The banking turmoil is adding to fears that a credit crunch will slow the economy further even without rate hikes. Shares of regional banking companies such as PacWest and Western Alliance (NYSE:WAL) weakened again on Thursday.

Another aspect weighing on stocks is the nation’s debt ceiling standoff in Washington. Lawmakers are fighting over whether to raise it without conditions, as Democrats want, or to attach spending cuts to any deal, as Republicans have favored. President Joe Biden has called leaders to the White House next week as the June 1 deadline quickly approaches.

Here are three things that could affect markets tomorrow:

1. Jobs number

The April jobs report is due out at 8:30 ET (12:30 GMT). Analysts expect the number to be 180,000, which would be down from the 236,000 jobs created in March.

2. Warner Bro. Discovery

Warner Bros Discovery Inc (NASDAQ:WBD) is expected to report a loss per share of 10 cents on revenue of $10.75 billion.

3. Cigna earnings

Cigna Corp (NYSE:CI) is expected to report earnings per share of $5.28 on revenue of $45.6 billion.