Live Index – Thu, 15 Oct 2015 Premarket

December E-mini S&Ps (ESZ15 +0.71%) are up +0.69% and European stocks are up +1.53% as global stocks and emerging-market currencies rallied on speculation that a Fed interest rate increase has been pushed back into next year. European stocks rose further and EUR/USD fell back from a 1-1/2 month high on signs that the ECB is concerned about deflation and may expand QE after ECB Governing Council member Nowotny said both headline and core inflation in the Eurozone are “clearly missing our target,” which contrasts from comments he made three weeks ago when he said there was “equilibrium” in prices. Asian stocks settled higher: Japan +1.15%, Hong Kong +2.00%, China +2.32%, Taiwan +0.93%, Australia +0.63%, Singapore +1.05%, South Korea +1.20%, India +0.86%. China’s Shanghai Composite rallied up to a 1-1/2 month high after the Chinese government unveiled a $ 36 billion plan to reorganize China’s telecom industry, which bolstered speculation the government will accelerate reforms of state-owned companies to revive economic growth.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.17%) is up +0.17% as it rebounds from an overnight 1-1/2 month low. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.31% and retreated from a 1-1/2 month high after comments from ECB Governing Council member Nowotny fueled speculation the ECB may expand QE. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.45% to a 1-1/2 month low.

Dec T-note prices (ZNZ15 -0.10%) are down -3.5 ticks.

ECB Governing Council member Nowotny hinted that the ECB may need to expand QE measures when he said both headline and core inflation in the Eurozone are “clearly missing our target” and that “additional” steps may be necessary to achieve growth.

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) weekly initial unemployment claims (expected +7,000 to 270,000, previous -13,000 to 263,000) and continuing claims (expected -4,000 to 2.200 million, previous +9,000 to 2.204 million), (2) Sep CPI (expected -0.2% m/m and -0.1% y/y, Aug -0.1% m/m and +0.2% y/y) and Sep CPI ex food & energy (expected +0.1% m/m and +1.8% y/y, Aug +0.1% m/m and +1.8% y/y), (3) Oct Empire manufacturing survey general business conditions (expected +6.67 to -8.00, Sep +0.25 to -14.67), (4) Oct Philadelphia Fed outlook survey diffusion index (expected +4.0 to -2.0, Sep -14.3 to -6.0), (5) New York Fed President William Dudley’s speech at the Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C. about how the Fed should decide the appropriate level of interest rates, (6) St. Louis Fed President James Bullard’s opening remarks at the St. Louis Fed’s annual fall policy conference, (7) Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester’s speech at the NYU Stern Center for Global Business and Economy,

There are 13 of the S&P 500 companies report earnings today with notable reports including Goldman Sachs (consensus $ 3.00), Citigroup ($ 1.27), UnitedHealth Group (1.64), Mattel (0.80), Schlumberger (0.77), Wynn Resorts (0.85).

U.S. IPO’s scheduled to price today: Adesto Technologies (IOTS), Fuling Global (FORK), American Farmland Co (AFCO).

Equity conferences during the remainder of this week include: Energy Storage North America Conference on Thu, and Moody’s UK Water Sector Conference on Thu.

UnitedHealth Group (UNH -1.55%) reported Q3 EPS of $ 1.65, better consensus of $ 1.64.

PPG Industries (PPG +0.14%) reported Q3 EPS of $ 1.61, higher than consensus of $ 1.57.

Philip Morris International (PM +0.08%) reported Q3 EPS of $ 1.24 above consensus of $ 1.12.

Goldman Sachs (GS -0.81%) reported Q3 qdjusted EPS of $ 2.64, well below consensus of $ 3.00.

Garmin Ltd. (GRMN +0.38%) fell over 10% in pre-market trading after it reported preliminary adjusted Q3 EPS of 51 cents, weaker than consensus of 64 cents, and then lowered guidance on fiscal 2015 EPS to $ 2.25 from a July estimate of $ 2.65, well below consensus of $ 2.62.

Manitowoc (MTW -2.91%) plunged 12% in after-hours trading after it forecast Q3 preliminary sales of $ 863 million, weaker than consensus of $ 942 million.

Dexcom (DXCM -6.35%) jumped nearly 10% in after-hours trading after it reported preliminary Q3 revenue of $ 105 million, higher than consensus of $ 97.9 million

Xilinx (XLNX +2.02%) rose nearly 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 EPS of 48 cents, better than consensus of 46 cents.

HCA Holdings (HCA +0.21%) tumbled over 9% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 EPS of $ 1.17, below consensus of $ 1.22. Community Health Systems (CYH -0.90%) also fell over 6% and Tenet Healthcare (THC -2.48%) slipped 9% in after-hours trading on the weaker-than-expected earnings from HCA Holdings.

Netflix (NFLX +0.46%) fell over 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 EPS of 7 cents, less than consensus of 8 cents.

MBIA Inc. (MBI +1.72%) jumped over 9% and Assured Guaranty (AGO +1.41%) rose over 1% in after-hours trading after the WSJ reported that Puerto Rico and U.S. officials are discussing issuance of a “superbond” to help restructure Puerto Rico’s debt.

Imprivata (IMPR -3.30%) slumped over 30% in after-hours trading after it reported a preliminary Q3 adjusted EPS loss of -22 cents to -23 cents, a bigger loss than consensus of -20 cents.

Dec E-mini S&Ps (ESZ15 +0.71%) this morning are up +13.75 points (+0.69%). Wednesday’s closes: S&P 500 -0.47%, Dow Jones -0.92%, Nasdaq -0.14%. The S&P 500 on Wednesday closed lower on carryover weakness from a slide in global stocks on Chinese economic concerns after China Sep PPI fell -5.9% y/y, the steepest decline in 6 years. There were also concerns about the pace of U.S. growth after the U.S. Sep retail sales report of +0.1% and -0.3% ex autos was weaker than expectations of +0.2% and -0.1% ex autos. Also, WalMart fell by -10% to a 3-1/3 year low after the world’s largest retailer forecast earnings will drop by 6-12% in fiscal 2017, weaker than analysts’ projections for a +4% increase.

Dec 10-year T-notes (ZNZ15 -0.10%) this morning are down -3.5 ticks. Wednesday’s closes: TYZ5 +22.00, FVZ5 +13.25. Dec T-notes on Wednesday rose to a 1-1/2 week high and settled higher on the weaker-than-expected U.S. Sep retail sales and Sep PPI reports, which reduce the chance of a Fed interest rate increase this year. T-notes also received a boost from the slide in global stocks, which boosts the safe-haven demand for Treasuries.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.17%) this morning is up +0.161 (+0.17%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.0036 (-0.31%). USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.54 (-0.45%) at a 1-1/2 month low. Wednesday’s closes: Dollar Index -0.828 (-0.87%), EUR/USD +0.0095 (+0.83%), USD/JPY -0.92 (-0.77%). The dollar index on Wednesday tumbled to a 1-1/2 month low and closed lower on increased chances for a further Fed rate hike delay after the weaker-than-expected U.S. Sep PPI and Sep retail sales reports. In addition, the China Sep PPI fell by the most in 6 years, which suggests weak Chinese product demand.

Nov crude oil (CLX15 -1.14%) this morning is down -54 cents (-1.16%) at a 1-week low and Nov gasoline (RBX15 +1.01%) is up +0.0144 (+1.10%). Wednesday’s closes: CLX5 -0.02 (-0.04%), RBX5 +0.0068 (+0.52%). Nov crude oil and gasoline on Wednesday settled mixed with Nov crude falling to a 1-week low and Nov gasoline posting a 9-month low. Crude oil prices were undercut by the weak U.S. retail sales report and Chinese PPI report and by expectations that Thursday’s weekly EIA inventory data will show that U.S. crude inventories rose +2.6 million bbl and Cushing stockpiles rose +900,000 bbl. Crude oil prices found some underlying support from the decline in the dollar index to a 1-1/2 month low.