Live Index – Tue, 21 Apr 2015 Premarket

June E-mini S&Ps (ESM15 +0.37%) this morning are up +0.31% amid merger activity and corporate earnings. Mylan NV surged 13% in pre-market trading after people with knowledge of the matter said Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. is preparing an unsolicited offer for the company, while Lam Research climbed nearly 10% in European trading after it reported Q3 profit that was above consensus. European stocks gave up an early advance and are down -0.05% after the German Apr ZEW investor confidence unexpectedly fell for the first time in 6 months. Greek funding concerns are another negative as the yield on the Greek 10-year bond rose to a 2-1/3 year high of 13.56%. The Greek government on Monday ordered local administrations to move funds to Greece’s central bank as it struggles to find funds for salaries and a repayment to the IMF. Asian stocks closed mostly higher as the action by the PBOC to lower reserve-requirement ratios for banks outweighed efforts by Chinese regulators to curb speculative trading: Japan +1.40%, Hong Kong +2.79%, China +1.82%, Taiwan -0.20%, Australia +0.67%, Singapore +0.15%, South Korea -0.14%, India -0.75%.

Commodity prices are mixed. May crude oil (CLK15 -0.50%) is down -0.27% and May gasoline (RBK15 -1.32%) is down -0.93% on expectations that Wednesday’s EIA data will show crude stockpiles rose +2.5 million bbl, exacerbating a supply glut. Metals prices are mixed. Jun gold (GCM15 +0.49%) is up +0.38%. May copper (HGK15 -0.48%) is down -0.46%. Agriculture prices are weaker.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.16%) is up +0.35%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.55%%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.23%.

Jun T-note prices (ZNM15 +0.13%) are up +3.5 ticks.

EUR/USD is lower on Greek funding concerns after people with knowledge of the discussions said the ECB staff has produced a proposal to increase the haircuts Greek lenders take on the collateral they post when borrowing from the Bank of Greece. Greek banks currently have access to 74 billion euros of emergency funds from the Greek central bank, an amount that is increasing and is under review each week from the ECB Governing Council.

The German Apr ZEW survey of expectations for economic growth unexpectedly fell for the first time in six months as it declined -1.5 to 53.3, weaker than expectations of a +0.5 point increase to 55.3. The Apr ZEW survey current situation, however, jumped +15.1 to 70.2, well above expectations of +1.4 to 56.5 and the highest in 3-3/4 years.

There are no U.S. economic reports today.

There are 33 of the S&P 500 companies that report earnings today with notable reports including: Northern Trust (0.87), Discover (1.27), Amgen (2.10), Verizon (0.95), Harley-Davidson (1.24), Travelers (2.52), Lockheed (2.50).

U.S. IPO’s scheduled to price or trade today: none.

Equity conferences during the remainder of this week include: IPAA Oil & Gas Conference on Mon-Tue, American Association for Cancer Research Meeting on Mon-Wed, IHS CERAWeek Energy Conference on Mon-Thu, Cards & Payments Asia 2015 on Tue, Financial Times Commodities Global Summit on Tue-Wed, Future Bank Asia 2015 on Tue-Wed, American Academy of Neurology Meeting on Wed, Capital Link Closed-End Funds & Global ETFs Forum – Panel on Thu, RSA Conference on Thu.

Travelers (TRV +0.70%) reported Q1 EPS of $ 2.53, above consensus of $ 2.52.

United Technologies (UTX +1.22%) reported Q1 EPS of $ 1.51, higher than conensus of $ 1.46.

Kimberly-Clark (KMB +0.54%) reported Q1 EPS of $ 1.42, better than consensus of $ 1.33.

Under Armour (UA +3.08%) reported Q1 EPS of 7 cents, stronger than consensus of 5 cents.

Harley-Davidson (HOG +1.93%) reported Q1 EPS of $ 1.27, better than consensus of $ 1.24.

Steel Dynamics (STLD +2.15%) reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 17 cents, above consensus of 15 cents.

Luxor Capital reported a 5% passive stake in GrubHub (GRUB +0.55%) .

Packaging Corp. (PKG +0.34%) reported Q1 adjusted EPS of $ 1.01, below consensus of $ 1.08.

Coach (COH +0.33%) was initiated with a ‘Sell’ and a $ 32 price target at Cantor.

Sanmina (SANM +0.95%) fell nearly 10% in after-hours tradign after it lowered guidance on fiscal Q3 EPS to 48 cents-52 cents, below consensus of 56 cents, and said it sees Q3 revenue of $ 1.5 billion-$ 1.55 billion, below consensus of $ 1.64 billion.

Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY +1.19%) was initiated with a ‘Buy’ at Cantor with a price target of $ 83.

IDEX Corp. (IEX +1.55%) reported Q1 EPS of 84 cents, above consensus of 83 cents.

Dollar Tree (DLTR +0.72%) was initiated with a ‘Buy’ at Cantor with a price target of $ 96.

Lam Research (LRCX +1.88%) jumped nearly 10% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 EPS of $ 1.40, higher than consensus of $ 1.30.

International Business Machines (IBM +3.42%) reported Q1 EPS of $ 2.91, better than consensus of $ 2.82.

June E-mini S&Ps (ESM15 +0.37%) this morning are up +6.50 points (+0.31%). The S&P 500 on Monday settled higher: S&P 500 +0.92%, Dow Jones +1.17%, Nasdaq +1.51%. Supportive factors for stocks included (1) the action by the PBOC to reduce banks’ reserve requirement ratios for the second time this year, which should support growth in China and is positive for the global economy, and (2) upbeat comments from New York Fed President Dudley who said that “despite the weak performance of the first quarter, I believe that the growth prospects for the U.S. economy over the remainder of 2015 will improve.”

Jun 10-year T-notes (ZNM15 +0.13%) this morning are up +3.5 ticks. T-notes prices on Monday closed lower: TYM5 -9.00, FVM5 -3.75. Bearish factors included (1) reduced safe-haven demand for Treasuries after stocks rallied, and (2) comments from New York Fed President Dudley that suggest he favors raising interest rates this year when he said that “the growth prospects for the U.S. economy over the remainder of 2015 will improve.”

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.16%) this morning is up +0.342 (+0.35%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.0059 (-0.55%). USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.27 (+0.23%). The dollar index on Monday closed higher: Dollar Index +0.421 (+0.43%), EUR/USD -0.00671 (-0.62%), USD/JPY +0.316 (+0.27%). Bullish factors included (1) comments from New York Fed President Dudley who said that he’s “relatively optimistic” that a rebound in U.S. growth will warrant raising interest rates this year, and (2) weakness in EUR/USD after the 10-year Greek bond yield jumped to a 2-1/3 year high of 13.328% on concern Greece will be unable to secure financing in time to avoid default.

May WTI crude oil (CLK15 -0.50%) this morning is down -15 cents (-0.27%) and May gasoline (RBK15 -1.32%) is down -0.0180 (-0.93%). May crude and gasoline on Monday closed higher with May gasoline at a 1-1/2 month high: CLK5 +0.64 (+1.15%), RBK5 +0.0051 (+0.26%). Bullish factors included (1) the action by the PBOC to cut banks’ reserve requirements for the second time this year, which may boost China’s economy and its demand for energy, and (2) the estimation from energy research firm Genscape that Wednesday’s EIA data will show that crude supplies declined at Cushing, OK, the delivery point of WTI futures.