Live Index – Tue, 13 Oct 2015 Premarket

December E-mini S&Ps (ESZ15 -0.39%) are down -0.44% and European stocks are down -1.21% on global growth concerns after China Sep imports fell by the most in 7 months and after German Oct ZEW investor confidence fell to the lowest in a year. Losses in stocks were limited on increased M&A activity after SABMiller Plc agreed to be purchased by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA for 69 billion pounds ($ 106 billion). Asian stocks settled mostly lower: Japan -1.11%, Hong Kong -0.57%, China +0.17%, Taiwan -0.07%, Australia -0.57%, Singapore -1.56%, South Korea -0.18%, India -0.21% . Asian stocks emerging markets were undercut by the weak Chinese Sep trade data, although China’s Shanghai Composite managed to eke out a slight gain on speculation the weak trade data will prompt the government to boost stimulus measures.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.02%) is down -0.02% at a 3-week low. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.20% at a 3-week high. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.24% at a 1-week low.

Dec T-note prices (ZNZ15 +0.04%) are up +3 ticks.

The German Oct ZEW survey expectations of economic growth fell -10.2 to 1.9, a bigger decline than expectations of -5.6 to 6.5 and the lowest in a year. The Oct ZEW survey current situation fell -12.3 to 55.2, a larger decline than expectations of -3.5 to 64.0 and the lowest in 7 months.

The China Sep trade balance unexpectedly widened to a $ 60.34 billion surplus, more than expectations of a $ 48.21 billion surplus and the largest surplus in 7 months. Sep exports fell -3.7% y/y, a smaller decline than expectations of -6.0% y/y. Sep imports dropped -20.4% y/y, more than expectations of -16.0% y/y and the biggest decline in 7 months.

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) St. Louis Fed President James Bullard’s speech to the National Association for Business Economics meeting.

There are 5 of the Russell 2000 companies report earnings today: JPMorgan Chase (consensus 1.38), Intel (0.59), Fastenal (0.47), Johnson & Johnson (1.45), CSX (0.50), Linear Technology (0.46).

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.

American Airlines (AAL +3.35%) was cut to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ at Evercore ISI.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ +0.65%) rose nearly 2% in pre-market trading after it reported Q3 EPS of $ 1.49, better than consensus of $ 1.45, and then announced a new $ 10 billion stock buyback program.

Fastenal (FAST -0.44%) reported Q3 EPS of 47 cents, right on consensus.

Molson Coors Brewing (TAP -3.50%) jumped over 8% in pre-market trading as the company stands to take full control of MillerCoors on speculation Anheuser-Busch InBev NV will have to offload its stake in MillerCoors if it wants its takeover of SABMiller to pass the scrutiny of regulators.

UTi Worldwide (UTIW -0.14%) was downgraded to ‘Market Perform’ from ‘Outperform’ at FBR Capital Markets.

FMC Corp. (FMC -2.47%) dropped nearly 11% in after-hours trading after it lowered guidance for fiscal 2015 EPS to $ 2.35 to $ 2.45 a share, well below an August projection of $ 3.00 to $ 3.30.

The WSJ reported that JPMorgan Chase will eliminate support for BlackBerry (BBRY -3.37%) wireless devices next year to cut costs.

Fortress Investment Group (FIG -3.37%) tumbled 9% in after-hours trading after it announced that it will liquidate its macro hedge run by Michael Novogratz who is leaving the firm.

Jet Blue (JBLU +2.91%) fell 1% in after-hours trading after it announced its August preliminary passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM) fell approximately 3% y/y.

Amgen (AMGN +2.30%) said its romosozuman increased bone strength in the spine and hip more than Eli Lilly’s Forteo drug after 12 months in postmenopausal women with low bone mass, based on small exploratory sub-study data.

Ryder (R -0.30%) slid nearly 7% in after-hours trading after it lowered guidance on Q3 EPS to $ 1.72-$ 1.74 from $ 1.82-$ 1.87, below consensus of $ 1.86.

Dec E-mini S&Ps (ESZ15 -0.39%) this morning are down -8.75 points (-0.44%). Monday’s closes: S&P 500 +0.13%, Dow Jones +0.28%, Nasdaq +0.29%. The S&P 500 on Monday settled higher on carry-over support from a +3.28% rally in China’s Shanghai Composite and on increased M&A activity after Dell agreed to buy EMC Corp for about $ 67 billion. Stocks were undercut by comments made Sunday from Fed Vice Chair Fischer who said the U.S. economy may be strong enough to merit an interest rate increase this year. In addition, energy stocks fell after the price of crude oil plunged -5.1%.

Dec 10-year T-notes (ZNZ15 +0.04%) this morning are up +3 ticks. Monday’s closes: TYZ5 +9.0, FVZ5 +4.75. Dec T-notes on Monday closed higher on carry-over support from a rally in European government bonds and on dovish comments from Chicago Fed President Evans who said that he favors waiting until the middle of next year before starting to raise interest rates.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.02%) this morning is down -0.022 (-0.02%) at a 3-week low. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.0023 (+0.20%) at a 3-week high. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.29 (-0.24%) at a 1-week low. Monday’s closes: Dollar Index +0.061 (+0.06%), EUR/USD unch, USD/JPY -0.23 (-0.19%). The dollar index on Monday rebounded from a 3-week low and closed slightly higher. The dollar index was undercut by Chicago Fed President Evans’s comment that mid-2016 is the “best choice” for the Fed to begin raising interest rates and by strength in EUR/USD which climbed to a 3-week high after ECB Governing Council member Vasiliauskas said that he doesn’t see any need for additional stimulus or additional fine-tuning of the ECB’s QE program. The dollar recovered its losses and moved higher after crude oil sold off sharply, which undercut the commodity currencies of Canada and Australia.

Nov crude oil (CLX15 -0.02%) this morning is up +6 cents (+0.13%) and Nov gasoline (RBX15 -0.22%) is up +0.0013 (+0.10%). Monday’s closes: CLX5 -2.53 (-5.10%), RBX5 -0.0672 (-4.74%). Nov crude and gasoline prices on Monday closed sharply lower on OPEC’s monthly report disclosing that OPEC Sep crude output rose +109.2000 bpd to a 3-year high of 31.571 million bpd.