Live Index – Thu, 14 Apr 2016 Premarket

Jun E-mini S&Ps (ESM16 -0.04%) are down -0.05% as they consolidate after yesterday’s sharp rally to a 4-month high. European stocks are up +0.01% at a 2-week high. Gains in European stocks were limited after German economic institutes cut their 2016 German GDP forecast to 1.6% from 1.8%. As expected, the BOE kept its benchmark rate unchanged at 0.50% and maintained its asset purchase target at 375 billion pounds following today’s policy meeting. Asian stocks settled higher: Japan +3.23%, Hong Kong +0.85%, China +0.51%, Taiwan +0.18%, Australia +1.27%, Singapore +0.81%, South Korea +2.13%, India closed for holiday. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Index rose to a 2-week high after USD/JPY gained for a second day, which boosted exporter stocks.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.18%) is up +0.20% at a 2-week high. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.08% at a 2-week low. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.06%.

Jun T-note prices (ZNM16 -0.19%) are down -6 ticks.

The top German economic institutes that include Ifo, DIW, IWH and RWI cut their German 2016 growth estimate to 1.6% from 1.8%, citing a slump in global demand.

Singapore’s central bank unexpectedly eased its monetary stance after the Monetary Authority of Singapore it moved to a neutral policy of zero percent appreciation in the local dollar, a policy last adopted during the 2008 global financial crisis.

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) weekly initial unemployment claims (expected +3,000 to 270,000, previous -9,000 to 267,000) and continuing claims (expected -8,000 to 2.183 million, previous +19,000 to 2.191 million), (2) Mar CPI (expected +0.2% m/m and +1.1% y/y, Feb -0.2% m/m and +1.0% y/y) and Mar core CPI (expected +0.2% m/m and +2.3% y/y, Feb +0.3% m/m and +2.3% y/y), (3) Fed Governor Jerome Powell’s appearance before the Senate Banking Committee in a hearing on current trends and changes in the fixed-income markets, (4) Alanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart’s speech to the ENGAGE International Investment Education Symposium, and (5) the Treasury’s auction of $ 12 billion of 30-year T-bonds.

There are 6 of the S&P 500 companies that report earnings today: Bank of America (consensus $ 0.21), Wells Fargo (0.97), PNC Financial (1.70), Progressive (0.50), Blackrock (4.29), Delta Airlines (1.30).

U.S. IPO’s scheduled to price today: Bats Global markets (BATS).

Equity conferences during the remainder of this week include: Goldman Sachs Cars Conference on Fri.

BlackRock (BLK +2.65%) reported Q1 EPS of $ 4.25, less than consensus of $ 4.30.

Bank of America (BAC +3.92%) reported Q1 EPS of 20 cents, below consensus of 21 cents.

3D Systems (DDD -0.18%) jumped 7% in pre-market trading after it was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Underperform’ by Bank of America/Merril Lynch.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG +0.01%) climbed over 2% in pre-market trading after it ws upgraded to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Neutral’ at JPMorgan Chase.

Applied Materials (AMAT +1.82%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at UBS with a price target of $ 26.

A U.S. District judge ruled that Microsoft’s allegations that InterDigital (IDCC +1.25%) engaged in anticompetitive conduct are “sufficient” for the antitrust suit against InterDigital to proceed.

Insys Therapeutics (INSY +2.35%) was rated a new ‘Buy’ at Janney Montgomery with a 12-month price target of $ 22.

ECB Vice President Constancio said the ECB will do “whatever necessary” to bring Eurozone inflation close to objective.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN +0.50%) rose over 2% in after-hours trading after founder Steve Wynn spent $ 7.2 million to buy an additional 72,851 shares on April 11, according to a Form 4 filing.

Pier 1 Imports (PIR +5.61%) climbed 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 EPS of 23 cents, above a March 7 estimate of 18 cents-22 cents.

Seagate Technology (STX -3.17%) fell 7% in pre-market trading after it reported preliminary Q3 revenue of $ 2.6 billion, below consensus of $ 2.7 billion and said it sees gross margins of 23%, below estimates of 25.7%.

Raytheon (RTN -0.40%) received a $ 1.01 billion contract from the U.S. Navy for design, manufacture, integration, demonstration and test of 15 Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) systems that will replace the ALQ-99 jammer system on EA-18G aircraft.

Dominion Diamond (DDC -3.06%) gained almost 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 revenue of $ 178.1 million, better than consensus of $ 178 million.

June E-mini S&Ps (ESM16 -0.04%) this morning are down -1.00 point (-0.05%). Wednesday’s closes: S&P 500 +1.00%, Dow Jones +1.06%, Nasdaq +1.31%. The S&P 500 on Wednesday climbed to a 4-month high and closed higher on reduced Chinese economic concerns after China Mar exports rose +11.5% y/y, stronger than expectations of +10.0% y/y and the biggest increase in 13 months. There was also a rally in bank stocks after JPMorgan Chase rose +4.2% on better-than-expected Q1 earnings results. The main bearish factor was that U.S. Mar retail sales unexpectedly fell -0.3%, weaker than expectations of +0.1%, and Mar retail sales ex-autos rose +0.2%, weaker than expectations of +0.4%.

June 10-year T-note prices (ZNM16 -0.19%) this morning are down -6 ticks. Wednesday’s closes: TYM6 +2.50, FVM6 unch. Jun T-notes on Wednesday fell to a 1-week but recovered and closed higher on the unexpected declines in the U.S. Mar retail sales and Mar PPI reports and on strong demand for the Treasury’s $ 20 billion 10-year auction that had a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.75, higher than the 12-auction average of 2.63. T-note prices were undercut by the rally in the S&P 500 to a 4-month high and by reduced global economic concerns after China Mar exports rose by the most in 13 months.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.18%) this morning is up +0.185 (+0.20%) at a 2-week high. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.009 (-0.08%) at a 2-week low. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.07 (-0.06%). Wednesday’s closes: Dollar Index +0.785 (+0.84%), EUR/USD -0.0112 (-0.98%), USD/JPY +0.80 (+0.74%). The dollar index on Wednesday closed higher on weakness in EUR/USD which slid to a 2-week low after Eurozone Feb industrial production fell -0.8% m/m, weaker than expectations of -0.7% m/m and the biggest decline in 1-1/2 years.

May WTI crude oil (CLK16 +0.17%) is unch. May gasoline (RBK16 +0.18%) is down -0.0042 (-0.27%). Wednesday’s closes: CLK6 -0.62 (-1.47%), RBK6 -0.0071 (-0.46%). May crude and gasoline on Wednesday closed lower on the stronger dollar and on the +6.63 million bbl surge in EIA crude inventories to a record high 536.5 million bbl, more than expectations of a +1.0 million bbl increase. Crude oil received some underlying support from the -0.3% drop in U.S. crude production in the week ended Apr 8 to a 17-month low of 8.977 million bpd and from the -4.24 million bbl decline in weekly EIA gasoline supplies, a bigger decline than expectations of -1.5 million bbl.