Live Index – Fri, 22 May 2015 Premarket

June E-mini S&Ps (ESM15 +0.02%) this morning are down -0.02% and European stocks are down -0.35% ahead of a speech later today from Fed Chair Yellen. Losses in European stocks were contained after the German May IFO business confidence fell less than expected. The yield on the 10-year Greek bond rose 14 bp to a 3-session high of 11.39% after German Chancellor Merkel spoke at a 2-day European Union summit in Latvia on the Greek debt situation and said there’s “a whole lot to do” to unlock bailout funds for Greece. Asian stocks closed higher: Japan +0.30%, Hong Kong +1.70%, China +2.83%, Taiwan +0.63%, Australia +0.04%, Singapore +0.30%, South Korea +1.28%, India +0.53%. China’s Shanghai Composite Index surged nearly 3% to a new 7-1/4 year high on speculation that recent weak Chinese manufacturing data will spur the government to expand stimulus measures in an attempt to stimulate the economy.

Commodity prices are mixed. Jul crude oil (CLN15 -1.09%) is down -0.92% and Jul gasoline (RBN15 -1.09%) is down -0.84%. Metals prices are mixed. Jun gold (GCM15 +0.57%) is up +0.69%. Jul copper (HGN15 -0.74%) is down -0.88%. Copper prices are being held down on signs of weak Chinese demand and failed to rally on data that show smaller supplies after weekly Shanghai copper inventories fell -10,521 MT to a 3-month low of 162,636 MT and after LME copper supplies fell -1,400 MT to a 5-week low of 330,825 MT. Agricultural prices are higher.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.20%) is down -0.30%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.67% on upbeat comments from ECB President Draghi who said the outlook for the Eurozone is the best it has been in 7 years. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.11%.

Jun T-note prices (ZNM15 +0.06%) are up +3.5 ticks.

ECB President Mario Draghi said “the economic outlook for the Eurozone is brighter today than it has been for seven long years. Demand is today being meaningfully buttressed in the short-term by monetary policy, and the stance of fiscal policy is broadly neutral.”

The German May IFO business climate fell -0.1 to 108.5, a smaller decline than expectations of -0.3 to 108.3.

Key U.S. reports today include: (1) Apr CPI (expected -0.2% y/y vs March’s -0.1% y/y) and Apr core CPI (expected +1.7% y/y after March’s +1.8% y/y), (2) Apr real avg weekly earnings (March was +2.2% y/y), and (3) a speech by Fed Chair Janet Yellen on the U.S. economic outlook at an event in Providence, RI.

There are 2 of the S&P 500 companies report earnings today: Deere (consensus $ 1.56), Campbell Soup (0.52).

U.S. IPO’s scheduled to price today include: Manhattan Bridge Capital (LOAN).

Equity conferences during the remainder of this week include: Janney Montgomery Scott-Company Marketing: Biotechnology-Southeast on Fri.

General Dynamics (GD +0.66%) was downgraded to ‘Market Perform’ from ‘Outperform’ at Cowen.

Foot Locker (FL +0.80%) reported Q1 EPS of $ 1.29, better than consensus of $ 1.23.

Deere & Co. (DE +0.54%) reported Q2 EPS of $ 2.03, well above consensus of $ 1.56.

Campbell Soup (CPB +0.49%) reported Q3 EPS of 62 cents, higher than consensus of 52 cents.

British Petroleum (BP +1.95%) was upgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Underweight’ at JPMorgan Chase.

H&R Block (HRB +0.60%) was initiated with an ‘Overweight’ at Piper Jaffray with a price target of $ 38.

Lockheed Martin (LMT -0.07%) has been awarded a $ 735.51 million government contract for sustainment of the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) Defense Satellite Communications System III.

The Fresh Market (TFM -0.27%) reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 50 cents, above consensus of 49 cents, although Q1 revenue of $ 462 million was weaker than consensus of $ 473.86 million.

Micron (MU +1.17%) was initiated with a ‘Buy’ at Mizuho with a price target of $ 39.

Marvell (MRVL +1.63%) reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 13 cents, higher than consensus of 10 cents.

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ +2.30%) rose over 1% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 EPS of 87 cents, above consensus of 86 cents.

Ross Stores (ROST +0.61%) reported Q1 EPS of $ 1.37, higher than consensus of $ 1.28.

Aeropostale (ARO +2.78%) slumped over 15% in after-hours trading after it reported a Q1 adjusted EPS loss of -56 cents, a bigger loss than consensus of -55 cents, and then lowered guidance on Q2 EPS to a loss of -52 cents-60 cents, a wider loss than consensus of -37 cents.

Gap (GPS -0.28%) reported Q1 EPS of 56 cents, right on consensus, although Q1 revenue of $ 3.66 billion was below consensus of $ 3.75 billion.

Intuit (INTU +0.75%) reported Q3 adjusted EPS of $ 2.85, better than consensus of $ 2.74.

June E-mini S&Ps (ESM15 +0.02%) this morning are down -0.50 of a point (-0.02%). Thursday’s closes: S&P 500 +0.23%, Dow Jones unch, Nasdaq +0.38%. The S&P 500 on Thursday closed higher on the strong +0.7% increase in U.S. Apr leading indicators and M&A activity after CVS bought Omnicare for $ 12.7 billion. In addition, the unexpected -3.3% decline in U.S. Apr existing home sales to 5.04 million (vs expectations of +0.8% to 5.23 million) prompted ideas that a Fed rate hike may be delayed.

June 10-year T-notes (ZNM15 +0.06%) this morning are up +3.5 ticks. Thursday’s closes: TYM5 +14.50, FVM5 +6.75. Jun T-notes on Thursday closed higher on the larger-than-expected increase U.S weekly jobless claims and the unexpected declines in both the U.S. Apr existing home sales and the May Philadelphia Fed business outlook survey.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.20%) this morning is down -0.289 (-0.30%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.0074 (+0.67%). USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.13 (-0.11%). Thursday’s closes: Dollar Index -0.193 (-0.20%), EUR/USD +0.00177 (+0.16%), USD/JPY -0.309 (-0.25%). The dollar index on Thursday closed lower on signs of U.S. economic weakness that may delay a Fed rate hike after Apr existing home sales and the May Philadelphia Fed business outlook survey both unexpectedly declined. Meanwhile, EUR/USD received a boost as the Eurozone May Markit manufacturing PMI unexpectedly rose +0.3 to 52.3, stronger than expectations of -0.2 to 51.8.

July WTI crude oil (CLN15 -1.09%) this morning is down -56 cents (-0.92%). July gasoline (RBN15 -1.09%) is down -0.0174 (-0.84%). Thursday’s closes: CLN5 +1.74 (+2.95%), RBN5 +0.0409 (+2.02%). Jul crude oil and gasoline on Thursday closed sharply higher on a weaker dollar and on carry-over support from Wednesday’s bullish EIA report that showed a -2.67 million bbl decline in U.S. crude oil inventories and a sharp -1.2% drop in U.S. crude oil production.