06:53 AM EDT, 10/07/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity investors will focus on earnings and inflation data this week as an escalating Middle East crisis -- without crude oil production or supply disruptions -- failed to outweigh the positive impact of a blockbuster jobs report on Friday.

* September's nonfarm payrolls' expansion of 254,000 compared with the 150,000 estimate, signaling labor market strength. Gains for July and August were revised higher, and the unemployment rate fell.

* US equity indexes eked out a gain last week following the blowout jobs report, which helped offset a significant escalation in geopolitical risk and showed investors favored economic strength over potential interest-rate cuts this year. After the jobs report, the probability of a 50 basis-point reduction in November fell to zero from 32% a day prior, as per the FedWatch Tool. As of Monday morning, the FedWatch Tool showed the likelihood of the FOMC leaving rates unchanged at 12%, and the remaining probability was for a 25 basis points cut.

* Israel is coordinating with the US as it prepares to strike back at Iran but will make its own decisions, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told CNN. "Everything is on the table," said Gallant, who will meet with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday.

* Pepsico ( PEP ) , Delta Airlines (DAL), JPMorgan Chase & Co. ( JPM ) , and Wells Fargo ( WFC ) will kick off the Q4 earnings season this week. Investors will watch out for earnings growth as markets are trading close to record highs.

* Consumer and wholesale price indexes are due Thursday and Friday. It's "unclear" that the inflation readings for September will matter to the Fed, Derek Holt, head of capital market economics at Scotiabank, said in the note. "They have made it clear that their focus has turned more toward the full employment half of the Fed's dual mandate and relatively away from the price stability half." However, after Friday's nonfarm payrolls exceeded expectations, "this calculus is now much less clear," Holt added.