By Liz Moyer
Investing.com -- Stocks were falling on Wednesday as investors took in comments by multiple Fed officials and tried to make out the direction of interest rates.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell set the stage on Tuesday by saying rates would continue to move higher despite signs that deflationary forces were taking hold. On Wednesday, Fed. Gov. Chris Waller said they aren't seeing signals that inflation is declining quickly, adding that while prices for food, energy and shelter will moderate this year, "We have further to go and it might be a long fight."
Earlier in the day, New York Fed President John Williams said policy may have to be restrictive for a few years to get inflation to their target.
The consumer price index for January is due out next week, and investors are hoping to see progress on price moves. There will also be data on retail sales as big retailers prepare to report their numbers for the recent quarter. That comes after Friday's preliminary reading of consumer sentiment by the University of Michigan, as analysts expect a slight uptick to 65 from 64.9.
Tomorrow will bring the weekly jobless claims numbers for the prior week. It's the first jobless reading after last week's surprisingly strong jobs report for January. Analysts expect initial claims of 190,000 for last week, slightly higher than the week before.
Here are three things that could affect markets tomorrow:
1. PepsiCo earnings
PepsiCo Inc (NASDAQ:PEP) is expected to report earnings of $1.65 on revenue of $26.8 billion, but analysts will be listening to what the company says about material costs and demand.
2. AstraZeneca earnings
AstraZeneca PLC ADR (NASDAQ:AZN) is expected to report earnings of 68 cents on revenue of $11.27B
3. PayPal earnings
Analysts expect the digital payments firm PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL) to report earnings of $1.20 a share on revenue of $7.4B.