Live Index – Mon, 12 Oct 2015 Premarket

December E-mini S&Ps (ESZ15 unch) are little changed, up +0.06%, and European stocks are down -0.17% as the markets await U.S. Q3 company earnings results this week to gauge whether the economy is strong enough to handle an interest rate increase from the Fed. U.S. government offices and government bond trading are closed today for the Columbus Day Holiday. Losses in stocks were contained on signs of increased M&A activity with EMC Corp. up over 7% in pre-market trading after a person with knowledge of the matter said that Dell is offering about $ 33 a share to acquire the company. Also, a slide in the dollar index to a 3-week low gave commodity prices a lift and boosted the shares of commodity producers. Asian stocks settled mostly higher: Japan closed for holiday, Hong Kong +1.21%, China +3.28%, Taiwan +1.51%, Australia -0.89%, Singapore +1.12%, South Korea +0.19%, India -0.65%. China’s Shanghai Composite rose over 3% to a 1-1/2 month high on speculation the PBOC will cut interest rates or reserve-requirement ratios as Chinese economic data this week will likely show a slowdown in exports and a deceleration in inflation.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.09%) is down -0.06% at a 3-week low. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.10% at a 3-week high. USD/JPY (^USDJPY)is down -0.12%.

Dec T-note prices (ZNZ15 +0.04%) are up +2.5 ticks.

Speaking Sunday at the International Monetary Fund’s annual meeting in Lima, Peru, Fed Vice Chair Fischer said that the U.S. economy may be strong enough to merit an interest rate increase by year end, although policy makers are monitoring slower domestic job growth and international developments in deciding the precise timing of liftoff.

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart’s speech on the economic outlook to the Association for University Business and Economic Research in Orlando, FL, (2) Chicago Fed President Charles Evans’ speech on on monetary policy and the economy at the World Steel Association conference, (3) and Fed Governor Lael Brainard’s speech on the economic outlook and monetary policy at the annual meeting of the National Association for Business Economic. U.S. government offices and the cash government bond market is closed today for Columbus Day. Interest rate futures trade regular hours on Globex and U.S. stock market is open during regular hours.

None of the Russell 2000 companies report earnings today.

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

Equity conferences this week include: Bloomberg-The Future of Energy Summit 2015 on Mon-Tue, Energy Storage North America Conference on Thu, and Moody’s UK Water Sector Conference on Thu.

EMC Corp. (EMC +2.50%) climbed over 6% in pre-market trading after a person with knowledge of the matter said that Dell is offering about $ 33 a share to acquire the company.

Tech Data (TECD -2.26%) was downgraded to ‘Underperform’ from ‘Market Perform’ at Raymond James.

Raytheon (RTN -0.17%) was upgraded to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Neutral’ at JPMorgan Chase.

Northrop Grumman (NOC +1.15%) was raised to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Underweight’ at JPMorgan Chase with a price target of $ 198.

Ralph Lauren (RL -0.59%) was rated a new ‘Outperform’ at Telsey Advisory with a price target of $ 142.

Citigroup raised its ecommendation of Goldman Sachs (GS -1.04%) to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral.’

Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD -0.54%) and Darden Restaurants (DRI -0.12%) were both downgraded to ‘Market Perform’ from ‘Outperform’ at Raymond James.

The Advisory Board (ABCO +2.65%) was raised to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Market Perform’ at FBR Capital Markets.

Radius Health ({=RDUS climbed nearly 4% in pre-market trading after saying Phase 3 Active trial data of its daily abaloparatide subcutaneous injection showed a 70% reduction in incidence of major osteoporotic fractures versus a placebo.

Twitter (TWTR +1.75%) fell nearly 3% in after-hours trading after Re/Code reported a person familiar with the matter said that new CEO Jack Dorsey plans company-wide job cuts.

Sientra (SIEN -2.77%) fell over 8% in after-hours trading after the company placed a temporary halt on U.S. sale devices made by Silimed and recommended that plastic surgeons stop implanting them until further notice.

Orexigen (OREX +6.30%) surged 10% in after-hours trading after Baupost Group reported a 17.17% passive stake in the company.

Dec E-mini S&Ps (ESZ15 unch) this morning are up +1.25 points (+0.06%). Friday’s closes: S&P 500 +0.07%, Dow Jones +0.20, Nasdaq +0.46%. The S&P 500 on Friday rose to a 3-week high and closed higher on carryover support from a rally in Asian and European stocks, gains in technology companies led by a +2.4% rally in Apple, and strength in health-care stocks as the beaten-down biotechnology sector rallied. Stocks were undercut by Atlanta Fed President Lockhart’s comment that an interest rate increase at the Oct or Dec FOMC meeting will likely be warranted as the economy “remains on a satisfactory tract” and weakness in industrial companies led by a -6.8% loss in Alcoa after it reported weaker-than-expected Q3 sales and profits.

Dec 10-year T-notes (ZNZ15 +0.04%) this morning are up +2.5 ticks. Friday’s closes: TYZ5 +0.5, FVZ5 -1.25. Dec T-notes on Friday declined to a 1-1/2 week low but recovered and closed little changed. T-note prices were undercut by the rally in the S&P 500 to a 3-week high and Atlanta Fed President Lockhart’s comment that he sees a Fed rate hike at the October or December FOMC meeting as likely “appropriate.” T-note prices recovered from earlier losses after stocks gave up most of their advance.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.09%) this morning is down -0.067 (-0.06%) at a 3-week low. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.0011 (+0.10%) at a 3-week high. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.15 (-0.12%. Friday’s closes: Dollar Index -0.505 (-0.53%), EUR/USD +0.0082 (+0.73%), USD/JPY +0.34 (+0.28%). The dollar index on Friday fell to a 3-week low and closed lower on negative carryover from Thursday’s dovish FOMC Sep 16-17 minutes and on Atlanta Fed President Lockhart’s dovish comment that he is “less confident today than six weeks ago” as economic risks are “a bit more to the downside.”

Nov crude oil (CLX15 +0.44%) this morning is up +11 cents (+0.22%) and Nov gasoline (RBX15 +0.54%) is up +0.0048 (+0.34%). Friday’s closes: CLX5 +0.34 (+0.28%), RBX5 +0.0063 (+0.45%). Nov crude oil and gasoline prices on Friday closed higher with Nov crude at a 2-1/2 month nearest-futures high. Crude oil prices found support from the fall in the dollar index to a 3-week low and from Russia’s ongoing intervention in Syria’s civil war, which could cause the war to spread and disrupt crude supplies.