Live Index – Fri, 20 Mar 2015 Premarket

June E-mini S&Ps (ESM15 +0.32%) this morning are up and European stocks are up +0.31% as Greek default concerns eased after Greek Prime Minister Tsipras said he was “more optimistic” after deliberations with EU leaders in Brussels. That fueled gains in Greek government bonds and the Greek 10-year bond yield fell back below 12%, the highest since Apr of 2013. Asian stocks closed mixed: Japan +0.43%, Hong Kong -0.38%, China +1.38%, Taiwan +0.13%, Australia +0.41%, Singapore +0.78%, South Korea -0.11%, India -0.73%. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Index rallied to a 14-3/4 year high led by strength in shippers after the Baltic Dry Index, a gauge of the cost of shipping commodities, surged 2.3% yesterday, the biggest gain in 2 months. China’s Shanghai Stock Index soared to a 6-3/4 year high on speculation the government won’t allow economic growth to fall below this year’s target of 7.0%. This has boosted stock trading in China as margin trading surged to an all-time high and new account openings rebounded to the highest level in 3 months. Commodity prices are mixed. Apr crude oil (CLJ15 -1.23%) is down -1.11%. Apr gasoline (RBJ15 -1.22%) is down -1.07%. Apr gold (GCJ15 +0.27%) is up +0.24%. May copper (HGK15 +1.28%) is up +1.11% at a 2-week high on supply concerns after the Freeport-McMoRan Grasberg copper mine in Indonesia, the world’s second-largest mine by capacity, remained shut for a fifth day due to labor disputes. Agriculture prices are mixed. The dollar index (DXY00 -0.32%) is down -0.35%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.28%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.24%. Jun T-note prices (ZNM15 +0.13%) are up +5 ticks.

The yield on the Greek 10-year bond fell back below 12.0%, a 1-3/4 year high, after Greek Prime Minister Tsipras said that he was “more optimistic” after deliberations with EU leaders in Brussels. Tsipras said that Greece will implement its own reforms and that all sides in the EU talks agreed to restore financing of the Greek economy as soon as possible,

German Feb PPI rose +0.1% m/m and fell -2.1% y/y, weaker than expectations of +0.2% m/m and -2.0% y/y.

UK Feb public sector net borrowing rose +6.3 billion pounds, weaker than expectations of +7.7 billion pounds.

There are no U.S. economic reports today. Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart today speaks on monetary policy and the economic outlook at the Georgia Law Review Symposium. Chicago Fed President Charles Evans speaks today at the Brookings Institute on “Risk Management for Monetary Policy Near the Zero Lower Bound.” There are 2 of the Russell 1000 companies that report earnings today: Tiffany (consensus $ 1.50), Darden Restaurants (0.84). Equity conferences today include: Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases and Related Neurological Disorders (AD/PD) on Fri.

American Airlines (AAL +1.96%) will replace Allergan (AGN unch) in the S&P 500 as of today’s close.

Hanesbrands (HBI -0.15%) will replace Avon Products (AVP -2.54%) in the S&P 500 as of today’s close.

SL Green Realty (SLG -0.14%) will replace Nabors Industries (NBR -1.16%) in the S&P 500 as of today’s close.

Equinix (EQIX -0.26%) will replace Denbury Resources (DNR -5.66%) in the S&P 500 as of today’s close.

Darden Restaurants (DRI -0.49%) reported Q3 EPS of 99 cents, well above consensus of 84 cents.

Tiffany & Co. (TIF +1.08%) reported Q4 EPS of $ 1.51, better than consensus of $ 1.50.

Biogen (BIIB +1.34%) jumped over 6% in pre-market trading after an early-stage trial showed the company’s BIIB037 drug slowed progression of the Alzheimer’s disease.

AK Steel (AKS -2.10%) fell 5% in after-hours trading after it reported a Q1 EPS loss of -23 cents, much weaker than consensus of a 1 cent profit.

WEX Inc. (WEX -0.65%) was initiated with an ‘Outperform’ at Oppenheimer with a price target of $ 120.

Nike (NKE +0.83%) rose over 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 EPS of 89 cents, higher than consensus of 84 cents.

Prothena (PRTA +2.63%) reported positive results from a Phase 1 study of its PRX002 drug, a monoclonal antibody for the potential treatment of Parkinson’s disease and other related synucleinopathies.

Cooper Companies (COO +0.60%) was initiated with an ‘Overweight’ at Piper Jaffray with a price target of $ 212.

Mattress Firm (MFRM +2.38%) reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 41 cents, weaker than consensus of 48 cents, and then lowered guidance on fiscal 2015 adjusted EPS to $ 2.50-$ 2.70, below consensus $ 2.77.

Jun E-mini S&Ps (ESM15 +0.32%) this morning are up +6.50 points. The S&P 500 index on Thursday closed lower: S&P 500 -0.49%, Dow Jones -0.65%, Nasdaq +0.10%. Bearish factors included (1) the unexpected -0.2 point decline in the Mar Philadelphia Fed business outlook survey to 5.0, weaker than expectations of +1.8 to 7.0 and the slowest pace of expansion in 13 months, (2) weakness in energy producers after crude oil prices moved lower, and (3) the jump in the Greek 10-year bond yield to a 1-3/4 year high on concern that Greece will run out of cash by the end of the month and default on its debts.

Jun 10-year T-notes (ZNM15 +0.13%) this morning are up +5 ticks. Jun 10-year T-note futures prices on Thursday fell back from a 1-1/4 month high and closed lower. Closes: TYM5 -11.00, FVM5 -9.00. Negative factors included (1) the smaller-than-expected increase in U.S. weekly jobless claims, and (2) the outlook for the Fed to raise interest rates this year even though the FOMC on Wednesday lowered its GDP, inflation, and year-end federal funds rate median estimates.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.32%) this morning is down -0.346 (-0.35%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.0030 (+0.28%). USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.29 (+0.24%). The dollar index on Thursday closed higher: Dollar index +0.710 (+0.72%), EUR/USD -0.02032 (-1.87%), USD/JPY +0.676 (+0.56%). Bullish factors included (1) fears the Fed will still hike interest rates this year even after cutting its U.S. 2015 GDP estimate and its year-end fed funds forecast on Wednesday, and (2) weakness in EUR/USD after the yield on Greece’s 10-year bond jumped to a 1-3/4 year high of 12.13% on concern that Greece will run out of cash by the end of this month without fresh EU funds.

Apr WTI crude oil (CLJ15 -1.23%) this morning is down -49 cents (-1.11%) and Apr gasoline (RBJ15 -1.22%) is down -0.0190 (-1.07%). Apr crude oil and gasoline prices on Thursday closed lower: CLJ5 -0.81 (-1.81), RBJ5 -0.0330 (-1.83%). Bearish factors included (1) a stronger dollar, (2) carry-over weakness from Wednesday’s EIA data showing that crude oil stockpiles rose to a record 458.5 million bbl (data from 1982), and (3) comments from Kuwait’s Oil Minister that OPEC will maintain its production to keep market share.