Day Ahead: Top 3 Things to Watch

Investing.com - Here's a preview of the top 3 things that could rock markets tomorrow.

1. U.S. Consumer Confidence, Housing in Spotlight

Top-tier economic data is on the calendar for tomorrow in the form of pending homes sales and consumer confidence.

The Conference Board will issue its measure of consumer confidence for October at 10:00 AM ET (14:00 GMT).

The index is expected to rise to 128 from 125.1 in September, according to economists’ forecasts compiled by Investing.com.

Consumer confidence data will take on added scrutiny after weaker retail sales data released last week raised concerns about consumer spending, which has been the main tailwind for the economy.

At the same time, the latest data on pending home sales, meanwhile, is slated for 10:00 AM ET as well. The report will come from the National Association of Realtors.

On average, economists predict that pending home sales rose 0.9% in September, compared with a 1.6% increase in the previous month.

The duo of reports comes just a day ahead of the Federal Reserve's rate decision, with the odds of a cut to 1.5% to 1.75% at about 95%, up from 92% last week, according to Investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool.

2. GM, Pfizer Earnings Due

General Motors (NYSE:GM) and Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) roll up with earnings before the market opens tomorrow.

The automaker’s earnings, however, are likely to take a back seat to commentary about how the 40-day of the UAW hurt business.

The strike, which involved about 50,000 workers at GM, is expected to have costed the company about $2 billion, according to Bank of America (NYSE:BAC).

Beyond the impact of the strike, car sales will also be in focus with the company reporting earlier this month that it had sold 738,638 vehicles in the quarter, up 6.3% from a year earlier.

GM is expected to report earnings $1.38 a share on revenue of $34.95 billion.

In pharma, Pfizer will be in the spotlight, with the drugmaker forecast to report earnings of 62 cents per share on revenue of $12.27 billion.

The company's share price has come under pressure amid valuation concerns, with Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) saying the earnings power of Pfizer) and Upjohn, the off-patent drug business it spun off this year, are weaker than expected amid concerns about negative regulatory action and lower margins.

3. AMD Earnings on Deck

Chip stocks will be in focus tomorrow as AMD reports earnings after the closing bell tomorrow.

Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) reports earnings amid a favorable backdrop, following the launch of its new chips, which attracted notable customers like Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL).

The earnings report comes as the company continues to scoop up new business at the lower end of the market, after Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) decided to de-prioritize shipments of low-end CPUs.

“IIntel's PC CPU shortages should again have allowed AMD to gain share at OEMs/ODMs who need to find substitutes for older/low end INTC parts,” Wedbush said in a note to clients.

Its gaming sector, which makes up the bulk of revenue, will likely get a boost from strong PC shipments, which should “have boosted both AMD's CPU and GPU businesses in the quarter,” Wedbush added.

AMD is expected to report earnings of 18 cents per share on revenue of $1.81 billion.

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