Live Index – Mon, 20 Jul 2015 Premarket

September E-mini S&Ps (ESU15 +0.09%) are up +0.11% at a 1-3/4 month high and European stocks are up +0.92% at a 2-1/2 month high after the Greek government gave orders to repay 6.8 billion euros due to creditors. Greek banks reopened today, although Greek financial markets remain closed. The markets will also focus on company Q2 earnings results which begin to come out in force this week. Asian stocks closed mixed: Japan closed for holiday, Hong Kong -0.04%, China +0.88%, Taiwan -0.78%, Australia +0.30%, Singapore +0.60%, South Korea -0.53%, India -0.15%. China’s Shanghai Stock Index closed higher on signs that government stimulus measures are beginning to take effect after China Jun new yuan loans rose at the fastest pace on 5 months. However, a total of 633 Chinese companies remain suspended from trading on mainland exchanges, down only 2 from 635 at the close Friday.

Commodity prices are mostly lower. Aug crude oil (CLQ15 -0.06%) is down -0.35%. Aug gasoline (RBQ15 -0.13%) is down -0.31%. Metals prices are weaker. Aug gold (GCQ15 -1.70%)is down -1.79% at a 5-1/3 year low on fund selling. Sep copper (HGU15 -0.78%) is down -0.76% at a 1-week low. Agricultural prices are lower as beneficial weather across the central U.S. over the weekend boosted yield prospects of U.S. crops. Dec corn is down -1.39% at a 2-week low, Nov soybeans are down -1.34% at a 1-week low and Sep wheat is down -1.58% at a 3-week low.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.11%) is up +0.14% at a 2-3/4 month high. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.09%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.10% at a 3-week high.

Sep T-note prices (ZNU15 -0.04%) are down -3.5 ticks.

China Jun new yuan loans increased 1.279 trillion yuan, stronger than expectations of 1.050 trillion yuan and the most in 5 months.

Key U.S. news today includes: none.

There are 6 of the S&P 500 companies that report earnings today: Morgan Stanley (consensus $ 0.74), IBM (3.78), Halliburton (0.29), Hasbro (0.29), Zions Bancorp (0.38), Genuine Parts (1.33).

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

Equity conferences during the remainder of this week include: BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology Conference on Mon, Wells Fargo Securities Telecom Symposium on Thu.

Morgan Stanley (MS +0.73%) reported Q2 EPS of 79 cents, above consensus of 74 cents.

Halliburton (HAL -0.55%) reported Q2 EPS of 44 cents, higher than consensus of 29 cents.

Hasbro (HAS -0.22%) reported Q2 EPS of 33 cents, better than consensus of 29 cents.

Amazon.com (AMZN +1.58%) was upgraded to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Market Perform’ at Cowen.

Brocade (BRCD -1.02%) was downgraded to ‘Sell’ from ‘Neutral’ at UBS.

Hertz (HTZ +11.89%) was reinstated with an ‘Outperform’ at Credit Suisse with a price target of $ 23.

SanDisk (SNDK -1.12%) was upgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Reduce’ at Nomura.

Dunkin’ Brands (DNKN -0.45%) was downgraded to ‘Underperform’ from ‘Outperform’ at CLSA.

Solera (SLH -1.96%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Overweight’ at Piper Jaffray.

Zillow Group (Z -0.48%) was downgraded to ‘Underweight’ from ‘Equal Weight’ at Barclays.

Huntington Ingalls (HII -0.82%) was awarded a $ 106.2 million government contract for engineering, technical, design, configuration management, integrated logistics support, database management, research and development, modernization, and industrial support for Navy submarines.

Viking Global Investors reported a 5.2% passive stake in Ctrip.com (CTRP unch) .

American Capital reported an 8.3% passive stake in WPCS International (WPCS -1.81%) .

ESL Partners reported a 9.8% stake in Seritage Growth Properties (SRG +4.06%) .

September E-mini S&Ps (ESU15 +0.09%) this morning are up +2.25 points (+0.11%) at a 1-3/4 month high. Friday’s closes: S&P 500 +0.11%, Dow Jones -0.19%, Nasdaq +1.45%. The S&P 500 index on Friday posted a 3-week high and closed higher on (1) strength in the U.S. housing market after Jun housing starts rose +9.8% to 1.174 million and Jun building permits unexpectedly jumped +7.4% to an 8-year high of 1.343 million, and (2) a rally in technology stocks after Google surged to an all-time high. Negative factors included the -2.8 point drop to 93.3 in the preliminary-July U.S. consumer sentiment index and weakness in commodity producers after crude oil fell to a 3-1/2 month low and gold plunged to a 5-1/4 year low.

Sep 10-year T-notes (ZNU15 -0.04%) this morning are down -3.5 ticks. Friday’s closes: TYU5 -1.50, FVU5 -2.75. Sep T-notes Friday settled lower on the rally in the S&P 500 to a 3-week high and the stronger-than-expected U.S. Jun housing starts and building permits reports that may cause the Fed to raise interest rates sooner rather than later. T-notes found support from the weaker-than-expected U.S. consumer sentiment index of -2.8 to 93.3.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.11%) this morning is up +0.136 (+0.14%) at a 2-3/4 month high. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.0010 (+0.09%). USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.13 (+0.10%) at a 3-week high. Friday’s closes: Dollar Index +0.194 (+0.20%), EUR/USD -0.00469 (-0.43%), USD/JPY -0.130 (-0.11%). The dollar index on Friday climbed to a 2-3/4 month high and closed higher on (1) the strong U.S. housing starts and building permits reports that may prompt the Fed to increase interest rates sooner rather than later, and (2) the decline in EUR/USD to a 1-1/2 month low on Fed/ECB policy divergence.

Aug WTI crude oil (CLQ15 -0.06%) this morning is down -18 cents (-0.35%). Aug gasoline (RBQ15 -0.13%) is down -0.0060 (-0.31%). Friday’s closes: CLQ5 -0.02 (-0.04%), RBQ5 +0.0319 (+1.68%). Aug crude and gasoline Friday settled mixed with Aug crude at a 3-1/2 month low. Crude oil prices were undercut by the rally in the dollar index to a 2-3/4 month high and the ongoing crude oil glut with U.S. crude inventories nearly 100 million bbl above the 5-year average. Gasoline closed higher and crude recovered from its worst levels on the rally in the S&P 500 to a 3-week high and the decline in U.S. active oil rigs by 7 to 638 in the week ended Jul 17.