Live Index – Thu, 16 Apr 2015 Premarket

June E-mini S&Ps (ESM15 -0.38%) this morning are down -0.35% ahead of U.S. weekly jobless claims and Mar housing starts that may provide a clue on the timing of a Fed interest rate increase. European stocks are down -1.24% on Greek default concerns after Standard & Poor’s downgraded Greece’s sovereign debt to junk status and as German Finance Minister Schaeuble ruled out further concessions to Greece. Asian stocks settled mostly higher: Japan +0.08%, Hong Kong +0.44%, China +2.71%, Taiwan +1.22%, Australia +0.66%, Singapore -0.24%, South Korea +1.01%, India -0.46%. China’s Shanghai Composite Index posted a new 7-year high on speculation the government will take more aggressive measures to bolster economic growth.

Commodity prices are mixed. May crude oil (CLK15 -1.45%) is down -1.67% and May gasoline (RBK15 -1.29%) is down -1.32% after data from Saudi Arabia showed Saudi Mar oil production rose +658,600 barrels a day to 10.294 million bpd. Metals prices are higher on speculation recent weak U.S. economic data may delay a Fed interest rate increase. Jun gold (GCM15 +0.53%) is up +0.52%. May copper (HGK15 +2.03%) is up +2.16%. Agriculture prices are mixed.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.37%) is down -0.27% at a 1-week low and EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.43%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -.07%.

Jun T-note prices (ZNM15 +0.13%) are up +6 ticks on carry-over support from a rally in German bunds to a record high as the 10-year bund yield tumbled to an all-time low of 0.077%.

The yield on the 10-year Greek bond shot up to a 2-year high of 13.044% after Standard & Poor’s downgraded Greece’s sovereign debt rating to CCC+ from B- with a “negative outlook.”

Key U.S. news today includes (1) weekly unemployment claims (initial claims expected -1,000 to 280,000 after last week’s +14,000 to 281,000 and continuing claims expected +19,000 to 2.323 million after last week’s -23,000 to 2.304 million), (2) Mar housing starts (expected +15.9% to 1.040 million after Feb’s -17.0% to 897,000), (3) April Philadelphia Fed business outlook survey (expected +1.0 to 6.0 after March’s -0.2 to 5.0), (4) the G-20‘s 2-day meeting in Washington that begins today in Washington.

Comments by Fed officials today include (1) Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart’s speech to area business leaders about the U.S. economic outlook and monetary policy at the Palm Beach County Convention Center, (2) Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester’s speech on the U.S. economic outlook and monetary policy to the Forecasters Club of New York, and (3) Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer’s appearance on an IMF panel along with ECB Executive Board member Peter Praet on “The Elusive Pursuit of Inflation.”

There are 14 of the S&P 500 companies that report earnings today with notable reports including: Goldman Sachs (consensus $ 4.26), Citigroup (1.39), Blackrock (4.52), AMEX (1.37), UnitedHealth (1.35), Schlumberger (0.91), Mattel (-0.10).

U.S. IPO’s scheduled to price today include: Gulfport Energy (GPOR), Matador Resources (MTDR), Capital Product Partners (CPLP), Akebia Therapeutics (AKBA). U.S. IPO’s that are scheduled to start trading today include: Etsy (ETSY) Party City Holdco (PRTY), Virtu Financial (VIRT), Immune Design (IMDZ), KemPharm (KMPH), Horizon Pharma (HZNP), WCI Communities (WCIC).

There are no equity conferences during the remainder of this week.

Shermin-Williams (SHW -0.50%) reported Q1 EPS of $ 1.38, below consensus of $ 1.44.

Goldman Sachs (GS +1.71%) reported Q1 EPS of $ 5.94, well above consensus of $ 4.26.

Grainger (GWW +1.55%) reported Q1 adjusted EPS of $ 3.10, weaker than consensus of $ 3.11.

Philip Morris International (PM +0.03%) reported Q1 EPS of $ 1.16, above consensus of $ 1.01.

UnitedHealth Group (UNH -2.17%) reported Q1 EPS of $ 1.46, better than consensus of $ 1.35.

BlackRock (BLK +0.80%) reported Q1 EPS of $ 4.89, higher than consensus of $ 4.52.

McDonald’s (MCD -1.17%) was initiated with a ‘Buy’ at Guggenheim with a price target of $ 108.

Chipotle (CMG -0.04%) was initiated with a ‘Buy’ at Guggenheim with a price target of $ 780.

Dunkin’ Brands (DNKN -0.58%) was initiated with a ‘Buy’ at Guggenheim wth a price target of $ 53.

The FDA approved Amgen’s (AMGN +1.78%) Corlanor drug to treat heart failure.

Starbucks (SBUX -0.33%) was initiated with an ‘Outperform’ at BMO Capital with a price target of $ 56.

Kinder Morgan (KMI +0.98%) reported Q1 EPS of 22 cents, below consensus of 23 cents.

SanDisk (SNDK +1.14%) fell over 7% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 EPS of 62 cents, weaker than consensus of 66 cents, and then lowered guidance on fiscal 2015 revenue view to $ 5.4 billion-$ 5.7 billion from $ 6.5 billion-$ 6.8 billion, below consensus of $ 6.15 billion.

Netflix (NFLX -0.68%) surged over 12% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 EPS of 38 cents, below consensus of 69 cents, but said it added a record 4.9 million new members globally in Q1, well above its forecast of 4.1 million.

June E-mini S&Ps (ESM15 -0.38%) this morning are down -7.25 points (-0.35%). Wednesday’s closes: S&P 500 +0.51%, Dow Jones +0.42%, Nasdaq +0.61%. The S&P 500 index on Wednesday rallied to a new 3-week high on deferred Fed tightening expectations after the weak U.S. industrial production and Empire index reports. Stocks also received a boost from the rally in the petroleum sector and from ECB President Draghi’s reassurance that there will be no early exit from QE.

Jun 10-year T-notes (ZNM15 +0.13%) this morning are up +6 ticks. Wednesday’s closes: TYM5 +4.00, FVM5 +3.50. Jun 10-year T-notes on Wednesday closed higher on the weak U.S. industrial production and Empire reports and the decline in the German 10-year bund yield to a new record low.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.37%) this morning is down -0.264 (-0.27%) at a 1-week low. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.0046 (+0.43%). USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.08 (-0.07%). Wednesday’s closes: Dollar Index -0.414 (-0.42%), EUR/USD +0.00293 (+0.28%), USD/JPY -0.256 (-0.21%). The dollar index on Wednesday closed lower on the weak U.S. industrial production and Empire reports. However, EUR/USD was undercut by ECB President Draghi’s reassurance that there will be no premature end for QE.

May WTI crude oil (CLK15 -1.45%) this morning is down -94 cents (-1.67%). May gasoline (RBK15 -1.29%) is down -0.0256 (-1.32%). Wednesday’s closes: CLK5 +2.66 (+4.99%), RBK5 +0.087 (+4.74%). May crude oil and gasoline prices on Wednesday closed sharply higher with May crude posting a new 3-1/2 month nearest-futures high and May gasoline posting a new 5-week high. The main supportive factor was the small -20,000 bpd (-0.2%) drop in U.S. oil production, which fueled ideas that U.S. oil production may have at least temporarily peaked in response to the 53% plunge in the number of U.S. oil wells. Crude oil prices also received a boost from the +1.29 million bbl increase in weekly EIA crude inventories, which was less than expectations of +3.5 million bbl. In addition, gasoline inventories fell by -2.1 million bbls to a 3-1/2 month low, which showed a tighter supply situation than expectations for a -750,000 bbl decline.