Live Index – Thu, 05 Nov 2015 Premarket

December E-mini S&Ps (ESZ15 +0.43%) are up +0.29% and European stocks are up +0.85% on better-than-expected company quarterly earnings offset the possibility the Fed may raise interest rates next month. Facebook is up over 4% in pre-market trading after it reported stronger-than-expected Q3 earnings and Societe Generale SA and Adidas AG are both up nearly 5% after they reported better-than-expected earnings results. Comments on Wednesday from Fed Chair Yellen signaled the Fed may still yet raise interest rates this month, although European government bonds rallied today as German bunds recovered from a 2-week low after weaker-than-expected economic data on Eurozone Sep retail sales and German Sep factory orders boosted speculation the ECB may need to expand QE. As expected, the BOE kept its benchmark interest rate at 0.50% and maintained its asset purchase target at 375 billion pounds following today’s policy meeting. Asian stocks settled mixed: Japan +1.00%, Hong Kong-0.01%, China +1.83%, Taiwan -0.08%, Australia -0.94%, Singapore -0.55%, South Korea -0.21%, India -0.94%. China’s Shanghai Composite rose to a 2-1/2 month high as government measures to limit short selling and to direct state funds to stock purchases have boosted Chinese stocks.

The dollar index (DXY00 unch) is down -0.02%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.02%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up % at a 2-1/4 month high as the rally in stocks reduces the safe-haven demand for the yen.

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

The European Commission raised its 2015 Eurozone GDP estimate to 1.6% from a previous estimate of 1.5%, but cut its 2016 Eurozone GDP estimate to 1.8% from a 1.9% estimate in May.

Eurozone Sep retail sales unexpectedly fell -0.1% m/m, weaker than expectations of +0.2% m/m and the first decline in 6 months. On an annual basis, Sep retail sales rose +2.9% y/y, weaker than expectations of +3.0% y/y.

German Sep factory orders unexpectedly fell -1.7% m/m, weaker than expectations of +1.0% m/m and the third straight monthly decline. On an annual basis, Sep factory orders fell -1.0% y/y, weaker than expectations of +1.9% y/y.

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) Oct Challenger job cuts (Sep +93.2% y/y), (2) weekly initial unemployment claims (expected +2,000 to 262,000, previous +1,000 to 260,000) and continuing claims (expected -4,000 to 2.140 million, previous -37,000 to 2.144 million), (3) Q3 non-farm productivity (expected -0.3%, Q2 +3.3%) and Q3 unit labor costs (expected +2.5%, Q2 -1.4%), (4) speaking engagements by Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer, New York Fed President William Dudley and IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde at a workshop on reforming culture and behavior in the financial services industry, and (5) Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart’s speech to the Joint Central Bank Conference in Bern, Switzerland.

There are 24 of the S&P 500 companies that report earnings today with notable reports including: Walt Disney (1.14), Symantec (0.42), Duke Energy (1.52), Molson Coors Brewing (1.30), Ralph Lauren (1.73), TripAdvisor (0.54), Kraft Heinz (0.65), Monster Beverage (0.81).

U.S. IPO’s scheduled to price today: Lending Tree (TREE), Cancer Genetics (CGIZ), Xtera Communications (XCOM), GenSight Biologics (GNST).

Equity conferences during the remainder of this week include: Citi Global Health Care Conference on Thu, Needham Next Generation Storage Networking Conference on Thu, Bernstein Technology Innovation Summit on Thu-Fri, BancAnalysts Association of Boston Conference on Thu-Fri.

Molson Coors Brewing (TAP -0.55%) reported Q3 EPS of $ 1.40, better than consensus of $ 1.30.

Celgene (CELG +0.51%) reported Q3 EPS of $ 1.23, higher than consensus of $ 1.22.

Facebook (FB +1.33%) climbed over 4% in pre-market trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 57 cents, higher than consensus of 52 cents.

Gilead Sciences (GILD -0.11%) fell nearly 2% in after-hours trading after French doctors said that Gilead’s hepatitis C medicine Sovaldi may trigger an abnormally slow heartbeat and put patients at risk of passing out.

Qualcomm (QCOM -1.00%) slipped over 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 91 cents, better than consensus of 86 cents, but then lowered guidance on Q1 EPS to 80 cents-90 cents, below consensus of $ 1.08.

Marathon Oil (MRO -1.32%) fell over 4% in after-hours trading after it reported a Q3 adjusted EPS loss of -20 cents, better than consensus of a -41 cent loss, but reported Q3 revenue of $ 1.32 billion, below consensus of $ 1.38 billion.

CenturyLink (CTL -1.65%) rose over 1% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 70 cents, higher than consensus of 69 cents.

Bojangles’ (BOJA +4.43%) climbed nearly 5% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 23 cents, better than consensus of 18 cents, and then raised guidance on fiscal 2015 EPS to 79 cents-81 cents from a prior view of 75 cents-78 cents, above consensus of 76 cents.

Lannett (LCI -1.54%) tumbled 15% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 99 cents, higher than consensus of 89 cents, but said a “key customer has taken steps to transition its purchases of certain product lines” from Kremers Urban Pharmaceuticals, which LCI agreed to acquire on Sep 1.

SolarEdge (SEDG -8.76%) rose over 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 36 cents, better than consensus of 29 cents.

Select Comfort (SCSS -2.63%) jumped over 10% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 EPS of 62 cents, higher than consensus of 41 cents.

FireEye (FEYE +0.66%) slumped over 15% in after-hours trading after it lowered guidance on fiscal 2015 revenue to $ 620 million-$ 628 million from an earlier estimate of $ 630 million-$ 645 million, below consensus of $ 640.4 million.

Dec E-mini S&Ps (ESZ15 +0.43%) this morning are up +6.00 points (+0.29%). Wednesday’s closes: S&P 500 -0.35%, Dow Jones -0.28%, Nasdaq -0.03%. The S&P 500 on Wednesday closed lower on interest rate concerns after Fed Chair Yellen reiterated that a December interest rate increase was a “live possibility.” Stocks also saw weakness as the dollar jumped to a 2-3/4 month high and caused worries about lower overseas earnings. Energy producers saw weakness after crude oil prices sold off.

Dec 10-year T-notes (ZNZ15 unch) this morning are up +2.5 ticks. Wednesday’s closes: TYZ5 -6.00, FVZ5 -7.25. Dec T-notes on Wednesday slumped to a 3-month nearest-futures low and closed lower on Fed Chair Yellen’s comment that the U.S. economy performing well and that a rate hike at the Dec FOMC meeting is a “live possibility” if the economic data holds up. T-note prices were also undercut by the unexpected increase in the Oct ISM non-manufacturing index.

The dollar index (DXY00 unch) this morning is down -0.017 (-0.02%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.0002 (+0.02%). USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.42 (+0.35%). Wednesday’s closes: Dollar Index +0.792 (+0.82%), EUR/USD -0.0098 (-0.89%), USD/JPY +0.50 (+0.41%). The dollar index on Wednesday jumped to a 2-3/4 month high and closed higher on Fed Chair Yellen’s comment that an interest rate increase at the Dec FOMC meeting is a “live possibility” if economic data hold up. In addition, EUR/USD fell to a 3-1/4 month low after Tuesday afternoon’s comments from ECB President Draghi that bolstered speculation the ECB may expand QE when he said the ECB is “willing and able” to act to support the recovery.

Dec crude oil (CLZ15 +0.17%) this morning is up +5 cents (+0.11%) and Dec gasoline (RBZ15 -0.40%) is down -0.0058 (-0.42%). Wednesday’s closes: CLZ5 -1.32 (-2.76%), RBZ5 -0.0421 (-2.91%). Dec crude oil and gasoline prices on Wednesday closed lower on the rally in the dollar index to a 2-3/4 month high and the EIA report, which showed a +0.5% increase in U.S. crude production to 9.16 million bpd and a +2.85 million bbl increase in EIA crude inventories to a 5-1/2 month high, a bigger increase than expectations of +2.50 million bbl.