Live Index – Wed, 23 Sep 2015 Premarket

December E-mini S&Ps (ESZ15 +0.31%) rebounded from a 2-week low and are up +0.21% and European stocks recovered from a 4-week low and are up +0.84% after the new orders sub-index in the Eurozone Sep Markit manufacturing PMI rose to a 5-month high, which signals increased production in the coming months. Stocks also found support after a rally in crude oil and copper boosted energy producers and basic-resource companies. Stocks had been weaker and emerging markets closed mostly lower after a gauge of Chinese manufacturing activity unexpectedly fell to its lowest in 6-1/2 years. Asian stocks closed mostly lower: Japan closed for holiday, Hong Kong -2.29%, China -2.19%, Taiwan -2.06%, Australia -2.07%, Singapore -0.79%, South Korea -1.85%, India +0.67%.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.12%) is down -0.11% as it fall back from a 2-week high. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.36% and recovered from a 2-week low after ECB Governing Council member Nowotny said he’s wary of expanding QE. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.06%.

Dec T-note prices (ZNZ15 -0.13%) are down -7 ticks.

ECB Governing Council member Nowotny said he’s wary of increasing QE any time soon and that the question of whether more easing is needed “deserves a much more thorough examination.”

The China Sep Caixin manufacturing PMI unexpectedly fell -0.3 to 47.0, weaker than expectations of +0.2 to 47.5 and the steepest pace of contraction in 6-1/2 years.

The Eurozone Sep Markit manufacturing PMI fell -0.3 to 52.0, right on expectations and matched April’s reading as the slowest pace of growth in 7 months.

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) weekly MBA mortgage applications (previous -7.0% with purchase sub-index -4.2% and refi sub-index -9.1%), (2) prelim-Sep Markit manufacturing PMI (expected -0.2 to 52.8, Aug 53.0), (3) Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart’s speech on the economy to the Buckhead Rotary Club in Atlanta, and (4) the Treasury’s auction of $ 35 billion of 5-year T-notes and $ 13 billion of 2-year floating rate notes.

There is 1 company in the Russell 1000 index that reports earnings today: Lumentum Holdings (consensus $ 0.20).

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

Equity conferences during the remainder of this week include: Mitsubishi UFJ Securities: Utilities Conference – New York on Thu.

A.O. Smith (AOS -2.12%) was initiated with a ‘Buy’ at BB&T with a price target of $ 80.

Raytheon (RTN -1.18%) was upgraded to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Market Perform’ at Bernstein.

Carnival Cruise Lines (CCL -5.49%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at Nomura.

Sherwin-Williams (SHW -2.87%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at Longbow.

Intel (INTC -1.68%) was upgraded to ‘Market Perform’ from ‘Underperform’ at Bernstein.

CarMax (KMX -4.69%) was downgraded to ‘Perform’ from ‘Outperform’ at Oppenheimer.

Laredo Petroleum (LPI -0.96%) was downgraded to ‘Underperform’ from ‘Neutral’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Cytec Industries (CYT -0.08%) was downgraded to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ at Jefferies.

Volkswagen (VLKAY -15.48%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Overweight’ at JPMorgan Chase.

Reuters reports that Wells Fargo (WFC -1.67%) is being sued by Oakland, California for “steering” minorities into high-cost mortgages that allegedly led to foreclosures and abandoned properties,

Integrated Core Strategies reported a 4.6% passive stake in WPX Energy (WPX -2.32%) .

Copart (CPRT -2.05%) reported Q4 EPS of 44 cents, higher than consensus of 39 cents.

Heron Therapeutics (HRTX -3.20%) surged 19% in after-hours trading after a Phase 2 study of its HTX-011 drug meets primary endpoint in the management of post-operative pain in patients undergoing bunionectomy.

Dec E-mini S&Ps (ESZ15 +0.31%) this morning are up +4.00 points (+0.21%). Tuesday’s closes: S&P 500 -1.23%, Dow Jones -1.09%, Nasdaq -1.43%. The S&P 500 on Tuesday dropped to a 2-week low and closed lower on the unexpected -5 point drop in the Sep Richmond Fed manufacturing survey to -5, weaker than expectations of +2 to 2 and the steepest pace of contraction in 2-1/2 years. In addition, raw-material and energy-producer stocks saw weakness after commodity prices slumped. Meanwhile, biotech and pharmaceutical stocks sold-off after Hillary Clinton said she will propose price caps and research-and-development spending guidelines for the pharmaceutical industry.

Dec 10-year T-notes (ZNZ15 -0.13%) this morning are down -7 ticks. Tuesday’s closes: TYZ5 +23.50, FVZ5 +12.00. Dec T-notes on Tuesday rose to a 3-week high and closed higher on reduced inflation expectations after the 10-year T-note breakeven inflation rate fell to a 4-week low, and on increased safe-haven demand for T-notes after the S&P 500 tumbled to a 2-week low.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.12%) this morning is down -0.103 (-0.11%) as it retreats from a 2-week high. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.0040 (+0.35%) as it rebounds from a 2-week low. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.07 (+0.06%). Tuesday’s closes: Dollar Index +0.389 (+0.41%), EUR/USD -0.0070 (-0.63%), USD/JPY -0.41 (-0.34%). The dollar index on Tuesday climbed to a 1-1/2 week high and closed higher on (1) the larger-than-expected increase in July FHFA home prices, which bolsters the case for a Fed interest rate increase, and (2) weakness in EUR/USD which slid to a 2-week low on speculation the ECB may boost stimulus after ECB Executive Board member Praet said that policy makers would “forcefully react” to defend their inflation objective.

Nov crude oil (CLX15 +0.97%) this morning is up +21 cents (+0.45%_ and Nov gasoline (RBX15 +0.16%) is down -0.0033 (-0.24%). Tuesday’s closes: CLX5 -0.60 (-1.28%), RBX5 +0.0139 (+1.00%). Nov crude oil and gasoline prices on Tuesday settled mixed. Crude oil prices were undercut by the rally in the dollar index to a 1-1/2 week high, and by news that Iran has cooperated in allowing the IEAE access to Iran’s nuclear facilities, which is a critical step towards getting sanctions dropped. Gasoline closed higher on supply concerns after Marathon Oil said it will shut its Catlettsburg, KY, 277,000 bpd refinery for repairs and Northern Tier St. Paul Park said it will close its 90,500 bpd refinery for unplanned repairs.