Existing home sales, Li Auto earnings, Foot Locker outlook: 3 things to watch

By Liz Moyer

Investing.com -- Stocks closed lower on Thursday as investors took in comments from Federal Reserve officials that indicated interest rate increases are still in the cards.

There was some hope last week that the Fed could start to step off its aggressive pace of rate hikes, starting next month, after data showed inflation is cooling. But a still-strong labor market and strong consumer spending data this week is clouding the outlook.

The Fed is likely to raise rates by a half-percentage point next month, many market watchers believe, which would be smaller than the last four rate increases of 0.75 percentage points each. But there is also the expectation that interest rates will remain higher for longer, rather than the once-anticipated Fed pivot in the near future.

St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard insisted today that rate hikes need to be increased further to cool inflation, suggesting it would rise to around 5% to 7%.

Signs that the job market remains resilient - as weekly jobless claims fell short of expectations – strengthened the prospect of a more hawkish Fed.

Here are three things that could affect markets tomorrow:

1. Existing home sales

The housing market is one area where the cooling off has really taken hold. Tomorrow at 10:00 ET (15:00 GMT), data on existing home sales for October come out. Analysts are expecting 4.38 million, which would be a tick lower than the prior month.

2. Li Auto earnings

Li Auto Inc (NASDAQ:LI) is expected to report a loss of 40 cents a share on revenue of $10.7 billion. Analysts will be listening to its outlook for production and demand.

3. Foot Locker earnings

The apparel retailer Foot Locker Inc (NYSE:FL) is expected to report earnings per share of $1.14 on revenue of $2.1B.