Live Index – Wed, 28 Oct 2015 Premarket

December E-mini S&Ps (ESZ15 +0.23%) are up +0.19% and European stocks are up +0.65% as Apple climbed nearly 2% in pre-market trading after reporting better-than-expected quarterly profits late yesterday. The markets also await the Fed’s interest rate announcement later today as to whether there will be an interest rate increase this year. European stocks also garnered support from a decline in the German 10-year bund yield to a 5-1/2 month low of 0.431% on the prospects of additional ECB easing after comments from ECB Executive Board member Coeure who said have been “lively” discussions within the ECB about additional measures to promote growth and boost inflation. Asian stocks settled mostly lower: Japan +0.67%, Hong Kong -0.80%, China -1.72%, Taiwan -0.41%, Australia -0.20%, Singapore -0.39%, South Korea -0.10%, India -0.78%. China’s Shanghai Composite fell on growth concerns after the Oct Westpac-MNI consumer sentiment fell to a record low and after UBS cut its China 2016 GDP forecast to 6.2% from 6.5%. Japanese stocks were the only bright spot in Asian markets as the Nikkei Stock Index closed higher on speculation the BOJ will increase stimulus when it meets this Thursday and Friday.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.17%) is down -0.14%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.14%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.11%.

Dec T-note prices (ZNZ15 -0.07%) are down -2 ticks.

ECB Executive Board member Coeure said that the risks have increased that inflation will remain below the ECB’s goal of 2.0% and that warrants vigilance from policy makers. He added that there have been “lively” discussions within the ECB of whether the deposit rate could be lowered from its current -0.2% or about expanding asset purchases.

The China Oct Westpac-MNI consumer sentiment fell -8.5 to 109.7, the lowest since the data series began in 2007.

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) weekly MBA mortgage applications (previous +11.8% with purchase mortgage sub-index +16.4% and refi sub-index +8.8%), (2) the Treasury’s auction of $ 15 billion of 2-year floating rate notes and $ 35 billion of 5-year T-notes, and (3) the FOMC’s interest rate decision after its 2-day meeting concludes.

There are 44 of the S&P 500 companies that report earnings today with notable reports including: PayPal Holdings (consensus $ 0.29), Valero Energy (2.66), ICE Exchange (2.92), Walgreens (0.81), Hess Corp (-1.20), ADP (0.65%), General Dynamics (2.13), Northrop Grumman (2.19), Amgen (2.38), Murphy Oil *-0.93), Newmont Mining (0.17), Willaims Copmanies (0.18),

U.S. IPO’s scheduled to price today: Optex Systems MyoKardia (MYOK).

Equity conferences during the remainder of this week include: Money20/20 Conference on Mon-Wed.

Apple (AAPL -0.63%) climbed 2% in pre-market trading after it reported Q4 EPS of $ 1.96, higher than consensus of $ 1.88.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise ({=HPE-W=}) rose nearly 3% in after-hours trading when it was reported that it will replace Hudson City Bancorp in the S&P 500 after the close of trading on Friday, Oct 30.

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE +3.36%) reported Q3 EPS of $ 2.91, below consensus of $ 2.92.

Twitter (TWTR +1.46%) dropped over 10% in pre-market trading after it reported adjusted Q3 EPS of 10 cents, double consensus of 5 cents, but then lowered guidance on Q4 revenue to $ 695 million to $ 710 million, below consensus of $ 748.6 million.

Gilead Sciences (GILD +2.14%) fell almost 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 EPS of $ 3.22, well ahead of consensus of $ 2.88, but said it sees 2015 fiscal sales of $ 30 billion-$ 31 billion, below consensus of $ 31.5 billion.

Valero Energy (VLO +0.90%) reported Q3 EPS of $ 2.79, higher than consensus of $ 2.66.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA +6.35%) reported Q4 EPS of 88 cents, better than consensus of 81 cents.

NCR Corp. (NCR -6.92%) rose nearly 2% in after-hours trading after it reported adjusted Q3 EPS of 78 cents, above consensus of 70 cents, and then raised guidance on fiscal 2015 EPS to $ 2.70-$ 2.80 from an earlier forecast of $ 2.60-$ 2.80, above consensus of $ 2.68.

Akamai (AKAM +0.24%) fell over 7% in after-hours trading after it reported adjusted Q3 EPS of 62 cents, above consensus of 57 cents, but then lowered guidance on Q4 EPS to 60 cents-64 cents, below consensus of 65 cents.

Northrop Grumman (NOC +0.17%) jumped over 8% in after-hours trading after the U.S. Air Force announced that it chose NOC to build the next-generation long-range strike bomber, beating out rivals Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The contract may be worth up to $ 80 billion if all 100 planes are built.

Infinera (INFN +0.05%) jumped 8% in after-hours trading after it reported adjusted Q3 EPS of 22 cents, higher than consensus of 18 cents.

Zeltiq Aesthetics (ZLTQ +3.54%) climbed 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 EPS of 5 cents, better than consensus of a -5 cent loss, and then raised guidance on fiscal 2015 revenue to $ 252 million from a previous estimate of $ 245 million-$ 247 million, above consensus of $ 247.2 million.

Dec E-mini S&Ps (ESZ15 +0.23%) this morning are up +4.00 points (+0.19%). Tuesday’s closes: S&P 500 -0.25%, Dow Jones -0.24%, Nasdaq +0.18%. The S&P 500 index on Tuesday closed lower on signs of weak capital spending after Sep capital goods orders non-defense ex-aircraft unexpectedly fell -0.3% (vs expectations of +0.2%) and on the -5.0 point decline in U.S. Oct consumer confidence to 97.6 (vs expectations of -0.2 to 102.8). There were also some concerns that the FOMC in its post-meeting statement on Wednesday might adopt less dovish language to allow for a December rate hike, although the FOMC is unanimously expected to leave interest rates unchanged.

Dec 10-year T-notes (ZNZ15 -0.07%) this morning are down -2 ticks. Tuesday’s closes: TYZ5 +10.50, FVZ5 +6.75. Dec T-notes on Tuesday settled higher on carryover support from a rally in German bunds to a 5-1/2 month high, the larger-than-expected -5.0 point decline in U.S. Oct consumer confidence, and increased safe-haven demand with the sell-off in stocks.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.17%) this morning is down -0.139 (-0.14%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.0016 (+0.14%). USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.13 (-0.11%). Tuesday’s closes: Dollar Index +0.045 (+0.05%), EUR/USD -0.0007 (-0.06%), USD/JPY -0.64 (-0.53%). The dollar index on Tuesday settled higher on weakness in GBP/USD, which fell to a 1-1/2 week low after UK Q3 GDP grew at a slower-than-expected pace. In addition, EUR/USD saw weakness on ECB Governing Council member Nowotny’s comment that the Eurozone is “still in this situation of very low inflation rates,” which bolstered speculation that the ECB may expand QE.

Dec crude oil (CLZ15 +0.88%) this morning is up +34 cents (+0.79%) and Dec gasoline (RBZ15 +0.91%) is up +0.0088 (+0.69%). Tuesday’s closes: CLZ5 -0.59 (-1.34%), RBZ5 -0.0018 (-0.14%). Dec crude oil and gasoline on Tuesday closed lower with Dec crude at a 2-month low. Crude oil prices were undercut by the stronger dollar, the sharp -5.0 point drop in U.S. consumer confidence, and expectations for Wednesday’s weekly EIA report to show that crude inventories rose by +3.5 million bbl.