Week Ahead (April 1 to April 5, 2019) | Key data could end or defend recession fears as stocks notch best quarter in a decade
Patti Domm 7-9 minutes Pedestrians walk past the New York Stock Exchange before the closing bell in New York. Bryan R. Smith | AFP | Getty Images Stocks head into the second quarter propelled by the best quarter in nearly a decade as the long tepid IPO market starts to simmer again. But the markets also face a reality check in the week ahead with some key data that could help clarify whether the economy is losing steam or just stumbling through a soft patch. The key release is Friday’s March jobs report, with economists expecting 170,000 new nonfarm payrolls, after February’s deeply disappointing 20,000 jobs, according to Refinitiv. There is also important manufacturing data from China over the weekend and the U.S. on Monday. Lyft Inc’s big IPO Friday on the back of Levi Strauss the week earlier has boosted some optimism for a year of new offerings that some analysts say could rival or surpass the more than $100 billion record of ne