Live Index – Wed, 20 Jan 2016 Premarket

March E-mini S&Ps (ESH16 -1.82%) are down -1.84% at a 4-3/4 month low and European stocks are down -3.20% at a 15-month low as a -3.06% plunge in crude oil (CLG16 -3.72%) to a fresh 12-year low drags down energy producers. Also, IBM fell 4% in pre-market trading after its 2016 profit forecast was below expectations which pulled the entire technology sector lower with Apple, Cisco and Microsoft all down more than 2% in pre-market trading. The plunge in crude oil has also weighed on commodity currencies with the Canadian dollar falling to a 12-3/4 year low against the dollar, while the Russian ruble sank to a record low of 80.463 per dollar. Asian stocks settled lower: Japan -3.71%, Hong Kong -3.82%, China -1.03%, Taiwan -1.98%, Australia -1.26%, Singapore -2.98%, South Korea -2.41%, India -1.71%. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Index sank to a 14-1/2 month low as exporters sold-off after the yen rallied to a 1-year high against the dollar and weakened the outlook for exporters’ overseas earnings.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.12%) is up +0.04%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.05%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.86% at a 1-year low as the sell-off in global equity markets boosts the safe-haven demand for the yen.

Mar T-note prices (ZNH16 +0.34%) are up +16.5 ticks at a 3-month high as the plunge in crude oil to a 12-year low has undercut inflation expectations with the 10-year T-note breakeven inflation rate falling to a 6-1/2 year low.

German Dec PPI fell -0.5% m/m and -2.3% y/y, a faster pace of decline than expectations of -0.4% m/m and -2.2% y/y.

China Dec foreign direct investment unexpectedly fell -5.8% y/y, weaker than expectations of a +3.1% y/y increase.

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) weekly MBA mortgage applications (previous +21.3% with purchase sub-index +17.8% and refi sub-index +23.8%), (2) Dec housing starts (expected +2.3% to 1.200 million, Nov +10.5% to 1.173 million), and (3) Dec CPI (expected unch m/m and +0.8% y/y, Nov unch m/m and +0.5% y/y) and Dec CPI ex food & energy (expected +0.2% m/m and +2.1% y/y, Nov +0.2% m/m and +2.0% y/y).

There are 7 of the S&P 500 companies that report earnings today: Goldman Sachs (consensus $ 3.57), Northern Trust (0.91), TE Connectivity (0.76), Amphenol Corp (0.59), F5 Networks (1.60), Xilinx (0.49), Kinder Morgan Inc (0.18).

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

Equity conferences during the remainder of this week: 23rd Handelsblatt Annual Conference on Tue-Wed, World Economic Forum on Wed, CIBC Whistler Institutional Investor Conference on Wed.

International Business Machines (IBM -1.48%) fell over 4% in pre-market trading after it said it sees 2016 operating EPS of at least $ 13.50, well below estimates of $ 15.00.

Lockheed Martin (LMT -0.32%) was rated a new ‘Buy’ at Guggenheim with a price target of $ 250.

Wells Fargo (WFC -1.25%) was upgraded to ‘Positive’ from ‘Neutral’ at Susquehanna.

Prudential Financial (PRU -1.25%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at Bank of America.

Sherwin-Williams (SHW -1.14%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at Goldman Sachs.

Netflix (NFLX +3.70%) jumped over 3% in pre-market trading after it forecast Q1 EPS of 3 cents, higher than consensus of 2 cents, and said it sees Q1 international streaming net adds of 4.35 million, above estimates of 3.72 million.

Spirit Airlines (SAVE -1.76%) rallied over 5% in after-hours trading after it raised guidance on Q4 operating margin to 22.5%, more than a previous estimate of 17.5%.

Cree Inc. (CREE +0.62%) jumped over 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 30 cents, higher than consensus of 24 cents, and then raised guidance on Q3 adjusted EPS to 22 cents-29 cents, above consensus of 22 cents.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD -3.94%) slid over 6% in after-hours trading after it estimated Q1 revenue would be down -11% to -17%, much weaker than estimates of down -6%.

SunEdison (SUNE -9.85%) rose 2% in after-hours trading after Luxor Capital reported a 5.3% stake in the company.

Microchip Technology (MCHP +2.91%) rose nearly 1% in after-hours trading after it acquired Atmel for $ 3.6 billion.

Synthetic Biologics (SYN -5.59%) surged 18% in after-hours trading after it said a Phase 2 clinical trial of its propriety SYN-010 for treatment of irritable bowel syndrome with constipation met its primary endpoint.

Mar E-mini S&Ps (ESH16 -1.82%) this morning are down sharply by -34.50 points (-1.84%) at a 4-3/4 month low. Tuesday’s closes: S&P 500 +0.05%, Dow Jones +0.17%, Nasdaq +0.14%. The S&P 500 on Tuesday gave up an early rally and closed little changed. Supportive factors included the +3.22% rally in China’s Shanghai Composite and strength in health care stocks. Stocks were undercut by weakness in energy producer stocks after WTI crude oil prices fell to a fresh 12-year low and the IMF’s cut in its 2016 global growth outlook to +3.4% from Oct’s +3.6% projection.

Mar 10-year T-notes (ZNH16 +0.34%) this morning are up +16.5 ticks at a 3-month high. Tuesday’s closes: TYH6 -2.00, FVH6 -2.00. Mar T-notes on Tuesday closed lower on the early rebound in stocks, which curbed safe-haven demand for T-notes, and on reduced Chinese concerns after the China Shanghai Composite closed up +3.22%.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.12%) this morning is up +0.035 (+0.04%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.0005 (-0.05%). USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -1.01 (-0.86%) at a 1-year low . Tuesday’s closes: Dollar Index +0.035 (+0.04%), EUR/USD +0.0016 (+0.15%), USD/JPY +0.32 (+0.27%). The dollar index on Tuesday closed little changed. USD/JPY saw some strength after stocks moved higher, which reduced safe-haven demand for the yen. Meanwhile, GBP/USD slumped to a 6-3/4 year low on signs that the BOE is nowhere close to raising interest rates after BOE Governor Carney said now is “not yet the time” to raise interest rates. The dollar was undercut by the IMF’s cut in its 2016 U.S. GDP estimate to 2.6% from Oct’s 2.8% forecast.

Feb crude oil (CLG16 -3.72%) this morning is down -87 cents (-3.06%) at a 12-year low and Feb gasoline (RBG16 -1.19%) is down -0.0066 (-0.64%). Tuesday’s closes: CLG6 -1.14 (-3.87%), RBG6 +0.0138 (+1.35%). Feb crude oil and gasoline prices on Tuesday settled mixed. Feb WTI crude oil posted a 12-year low and Feb gasoline dropped to a 7-year low. Crude oil prices were undercut by the weekend news that sanctions on Iran were lifted, by the IEA’s cut in its 2016 global oil demand forecast by 100,000 bpd to 95.7 million bpd from an earlier forecast of 95.8 million bpd, and by expectations that Thursday’s weekly EIA inventory data will show U.S. crude supplies rose +2.5 million bbl. Feb gasoline rebounded from a 7-year low and closed higher on signs of stronger refinery demand for gasoline after the crack spread rose to a 4-session high.