Live Index – Wed, 23 Mar 2016 Premarket

Jun E-mini S&Ps (ESM16 +0.01%) are down -0.02% and European stocks are up +0.40%. The upside in U.S. stock index futures was limited as Nike fell nearly 6% in pre-market trading after it forecast sales during the next fiscal year will increase by a high-single-digit percentage, less than consensus of a 10% increase. Weakness in EUR/USD gave European automakers a boost to lead European stocks higher and Credit Suisse Group AG is up 2% after it announced an additional 2,000 job cuts. Asian stocks settled mixed: Japan -0.28%, Hong Kong -0.25%, China +0.35%, Taiwan -0.22%, Australia -0.47%, Singapore +0.05%, South Korea -0.07%, India +0.03%.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.22%) is up +0.17%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.19%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.25%.

Jun T-note prices (ZNM16 -0.01%) are down -1 tick.

In an Economic Bulletin published by the ECB, the ECB said that a 1% decline in China GDP would have an impact of just 0.08% on Eurozone trade, while the effect of an equivalent demand shock in the U.S. would be more than three time bigger. “The trade impact on the Eurozone from a demand disturbance in the U.S. is likely to be substantial through both bilateral trade effects and echo effects. A similar shock in China would have less impact on Eurozone activity.”

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) weekly MBA mortgage applications (previous -3.3% with purchase sub-index +0.3% and refi sub-index -5.6%), (2) St. Louis Fed President James Bullard’s speech on Bloomberg TV and radio, (3) Feb new home sales (expected +3.2% to 510,000, Jan -9.2% to 494,000), and (4) the Treasury’s auction of $ 13 billion of 2-year floating-rate T-notes.

There are 2 of the Russell 1000 companies that report earnings today: General Mills (consensus $ 0.62), PVH Corp (1.46).

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

Equity conferences during the remainder of this week include: Bank of America Merrill Lynch New York Auto Summit on Wed, BB&T Capital Markets Commercial & Industrial Investors Conference on Wed-Thu.

Nike (NKE +0.28%) dropped nearly 6% in pre-market trading after it reported Q3 revenue of $ 8.03 billion, well below consensus of $ 8.20 billion.

Red Hat (RHT +1.08%) slipped 2% in after-hours trading after it said Q4 billings growth was only 10.9% q/q, below the 14.9% q/q growth rate from Q3.

Charles Schwab (SCHW +0.46%) was rated a new ‘Buy’ at Argus Research.

Merk (MRK +0.44%) rose nearly 3% in after-hours trading after it won a jury verdict that allows it to seek royalties from Gilead Sciences for its Hepatitis C cure. Gilead Sciences (GILD +1.13%) fell almost over 3% on the news.

Steelcase (SCS +1.42%) rallied 5% in after-hours trading after it boosted its dividend to 12 cents a share from 11.25 cents a share.

Five Below (FIVE -1.59%) dropped nearly 5% in after-hours trading after it said it sees fiscal year EPS of $ 1.27-$ 1.31, below the midpoint of consensus of $ 1.31.

Biogen (BIIB +1.32%) slid over 2% in after-hours trading after the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board said Kyle Bass has shown a reasonable likelihood of success to challenge the Biogen patent on Tecfidera.

Cintas (CTAS +0.19%) gained over 1% in after-hours trading after it raised guidance on fiscal 2016 EPS continuing operations to $ 3.98-$ 4.03 from a prior estimate of $ 3.83-$ 3.90, above consensus of $ 3.92.

Shell Midstream Partners LP (SHLX +2.10%) fell over 4% in after-hours trading after it said it started a 8.5 million-unit secondary offering.

Aratana Therapeutics ({=PETX gained almost 1% in after-hours trading after it said it is seeking FDA approval for its Entyce appetite-stimulation drug for dogs.

Affymetrix (AFFX -0.21%) climbed over 5% in after-hours trading after Origin Technologies increased its all-cash offer to buy Affymetrix for $ 17 a share.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (KKD -0.90%) slumped 7% in after-hours trading after it said it sees fiscal year adjusted EPS of 87 cents-91 cents, below consensus of 93 cents.

Pieris Pharmaceuticals (PIRS +3.30%) jumped over 10% in after-hours trading after it reported a Q4 loss of -7 cents, a smaller loss than consensus of -12 cents.

Jun E-mini S&Ps (ESM16 +0.01%) this morning are down -0.50 (-0.02%). Tuesday’s closes: S&P 500 -0.09%, Dow Jones -0.23%, Nasdaq +0.24%. The S&P 500 on Tuesday shook off early losses and rallied to a 2-1/2 month high and closed little changed. Stocks were boosted by upbeat comments from Chicago Fed President Evans who said he expects U.S. 2016 GDP between 2.0% and 2.5% and that “the fundamentals are really quite good for the economy going forward.” Stocks also received a boost from technology stocks, which were led by a +0.8% increase in Apple. Stocks saw early weakness in leisure and travel-related stocks due to the terrorist bombings in Belgium.

Jun 10-year T-notes (ZNM16 -0.01%) this morning are down -1 tick. Tuesday’s closes: TYM6 -7.00, FVM6 -5.25. Jun T-notes on Tuesday erased early gains and closed lower on reduced safe-haven demand for government debt after stocks recovered from early losses and on Chicago Fed President Evans’ comment that U.S. economic fundamental are “really quite good,” which may lead to further Fed interest rate increases. T-notes opened higher on safe-haven demand after the terrorist bombings in Belgium.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.22%) this morning is up +0.166 (+0.17%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.0021 (-0.19%). USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.28 (+0.25%). Tuesday’s closes: Dollar Index +0.360 (+0.38%), EUR/USD -0.0024 (-0.21%), USD/JPY +0.42 (+0.38%). The dollar index on Tuesday closed higher on increased safe-haven demand for the dollar after the terrorist bombings in Brussels. In addition, GBP/USD saw weakness after a smaller-than-expected increase in UK Feb CPI reduced the chance of a BOE rate increase, which was negative for the British pound.

May WTI crude (CLK16 -0.99%) this morning is down -41 cents (-0.99%) and May gasoline (RBK16 +0.17%) is up +0.0040 (+0.26%). Tuesday’s closes: CLK6 -0.07 (-0.17%), RBK6 +0.0348 (+2.33%). May crude and gasoline on Tuesday settled mixed with May gasoline at a 2-1/2 month high. Crude oil prices were undercut by a stronger dollar and by expectations for EIA crude inventories to increase by +2.5 million bbl on Wednesday. Gasoline rallied on expectations that Wednesday’s EIA gasoline supplies will decline by -2.5 million bbl.