Welcome to Seeking Alpha's Wall Street brunch, our Sunday look ahead to this week's

market-moving events, along with the weekend's top news and analysis.

Hello, today is Sunday, March 29th, and I'm your host, Kim Khan. It's a holiday short and

week on Wall Street, with a difference. Markets will be

closed Friday and observance of Good Friday, but because it's not a federal holiday, the

March employment report will still be released. Economists expect non-farm payrolls to have risen

by $56,000 last month, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 4.4% and average hourly

earnings of 0.3%.

Seeking Alpha analysts, Damertokic says every labor and inflation report will take on added

importance as long as the war with Iran continues and oil prices remain elevated, with a particular

focus on the Fed's reaction function. The market is starting to price in a hike in 2026, he noted, which means

participants believe the Fed could be forced to tighten despite a weakening labor market, a

worst-case scenario for equities. Pantheon Macro says the still-restrained pace of layoffs

argues against further deterioration in the labor market for now, even though hiring remains

weak. The firm notes that high-frequency measures

such as Indeed and link-up job postings have held steady at low levels during the conflict,

but that could change if higher gasoline prices begin to weigh more heavily on consumer spending.

On the corporate front, Nike headlines earnings on Tuesday, its outlook on China demand and

broader consumer trends

could have read-through for names such as Starbucks and Estée Lauder.

Analysts expect Nike to post EPS of 28 cents on revenue of $11.2 billion.

Over the last 90 days, estimates have seen three upward revisions and four downward ones.

...