Inflation reading, oil majors, Colgate reports: 3 things to watch

Investing.com -- Stocks were surging on Thursday because of strong earnings reports from a slew of companies, led by Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META).

Tech stocks were leading the indexes higher as better-than-expected reports drowned out concerns about weaker-than-expected economic growth for the first quarter.

The strong reports are being closely watched by the Federal Reserve, which meets next week to decide the next step on interest rates. Gross domestic product for the first quarter was 1.1%, below the 2% expected, and came on the same day as lower-than-expected initial jobless claims. New inflation data is due out Friday morning.

Futures traders expect the Fed will raise rates another quarter of a percentage point next week and then pause on more hikes in June. Analysts will be listening closely to what Chair Jerome Powell says at his press conference Wednesday afternoon after the release of the decision.

Friday's inflation data could be influential to the Fed's decision, as it is the central bank's preferred measure of inflation. Earnings from major oil companies and consumer product companies are also expected.

Here are three things that could affect markets tomorrow:

1. Inflation gauge

The personal consumption expenditures index for March is due out at 8:30 ET (12:30 GMT). Analysts expect it to rise 0.3% from February. On a core basis, which excludes food and fuel prices, PCE is expected to rise 0.3% from February and 4.5% for the 12 months through March.

2. Oil majors

Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM) is expected to report earnings of $2.60 a share on revenue of $82.7 billion. Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) is expected to report earnings per share of $3.38 on revenue of $48.9B.

3. Colgate earnings

Consumer product company Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) is expected to report earnings per share of 69 cents on revenue of $4.57B.