Live Index – Mon, 18 Apr 2016 Premarket

Jun E-mini S&Ps (ESM16 -0.34%) are down -0.33% and European stocks are down -0.28% as crude oil prices (CLK16 -3.96%) tumbled -3.72% to a 1-week low after a weekend meeting in Doha between OPEC members ended without a deal on freezing crude production. Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that Saudi Arabia would not restrain its production without commitments from other major oil producers including Iran, which has ruled out freezing its crude production for now. Stocks recovered from their worst levels after comments to the Financial Times from St. Louis Fed President Bullard signal he favors delaying additional interest rate increases. Asian stocks settled mostly lower: Japan -3.40%, Hong Kong -0.73%, China -1.44%, Taiwan -0.40%, Australia -0.40%, Singapore -0.21%, South Korea -0.21%, India +0.74%. Japanese stocks closed lower with a sell-off in insurance companies leading the overall market lower after earthquakes struck southern Japan. Exporter stocks also fell as USD/JPY fell back toward its recent 17-1/2 month low after the weekend G-20 meeting in Washington failed to show support for any intervention in currency markets to slow the yen’s recent strength.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.11%) is down -0.10%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) up +0.19%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.38% after U.S. Treasury Secretary Lew late Friday said that foreign-exchange moves are “orderly,” a signal that the U.S. doesn’t view yen-selling intervention as warranted.

Jun T-note prices (ZNM16 +0.04%) are up +1.5 ticks.

St. Louis Fed President Bullard told the Financial Times the “the jobs report we got this month was very strong but the GDP tracking has moved down substantially for Q1 and to some extent for Q2.” This supports arguments for patience in assessing whether to lift the benchmark U.S. rate.

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) New York Fed President William Dudley gives opening remarks at a conference titled “The Transatlantic Economy: Convergence or Divergence” in New York, (2) Apr NAHB housing market index (expected +1 to 59, Mar unch at 58), and (3) Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari’s speech at an event hosted by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.

There are 8 of the S&P 500 companies that report earnings today: Morgan Stanley (consensus $ 0.47), IBM (2.09), Netflix (0.04), M&T Bank (1.87), JB Hunt Transport (0.85), PepsiCo (0.81), Hasbro (0.24), WW Grainger (2.85).

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

Equity conferences this week include: American Academy Of Neurology Meeting on Mon-Wed, American Association for Cancer Research Meeting on Mon-Wed, Rx Sample Management and logistics Summit on Tue-Wed.

ConocoPhillips (COP -1.18%) and Chevron (CVX -0.77%) are both down over 2% in pre-market trading as crude oil fell to a 1-week low after oil output talks between OPEC and non-OPEC members ended without a deal on freezing crude production.

Union Pacific (UNP -1.35%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at UBS>

Edison International (EIX +1.46%) and Exelon (EXC -1.63%) were both downgraded to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ at Deutsche Bank.

Broadcom Ltd. (AVGO -2.10%) was rated a new ‘Outperform’ at Cowen with a price target of $ 190.

Apple (AAPL -2.01%) and Verizon Communications (VZ -0.02%) were both upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at Erste Group.

NetApp (NTAP -2.03%) was downgraded to ‘Underperform’ from ‘Neutral’ at Sterne Agee CRT.

Disney (DIS -0.04%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at Pivotal Research Group LLC with a 12-month price target of $ 121.

Chemical Financial (CHFC +0.46%) reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 65 cents, higher than consensus of 63 cents.

Autoliv (ALV -0.57%) was downgraded to ‘Sell’ from ‘Neutral’ at Goldman Sachs.

Groupon (GRPN +3.85%) gained over 1% in after-hours trading after New Enterprise Associates reported a 7.7% stake in the company.

Autohome (ATHM +6.60%) fell over 1% in after-hours trading after it received a non-binding proposal from a consortium for $ 31.50/ADS, below Friday’s closing price of $ 32.15.

Calumet Specialty Products (CLMT -7.39%) dropped nearly 3% in after-hours trading after it said it sees a Q1 net loss of $ 59 million-$ 83 million.

Zoe’s Kitchen (ZOES +2.21%) rose over 1% in after-hours trading after the company dismissed PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and appointed Deloitte & Touche LLP as its accountant.

June E-mini S&Ps (ESM16 -0.34%) this morning are down -6.75 points (-0.33%). Friday’s closes: S&P 500 -0.10%, Dow Jones -0.16%, Nasdaq -0.25%. The S&P 500 on Friday closed lower on the unexpected -0.3% decline in U.S. manufacturing production, weaker than expectations of +0.1%, and the unexpected -1.3 point fall in the Apr University of Michigan U.S. consumer sentiment index to a 7-month low of 89.7. Stocks received some support from the +8.94 point rise in the Apr Empire manufacturing index to a 15-month high of 9.56.

June 10-year T-note prices (ZNM16 +0.04%) this morning are up +1.5 ticks. Friday’s closes: TYM6 +8.50, FVM6 +4.75. Jun T-notes on Friday closed higher on the weak Mar U.S. manufacturing production report of -0.3% m/m, the biggest decline in 13 months, and on reduced inflation expectations after the 10-year T-note breakeven inflation rate fell to a 1-month low.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.11%) this morning is down -0.94 (-0.10%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.0021 (+0.19%). USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.41 (-0.38%). Friday’s closes: Dollar Index -0.206 (-0.22%), EUR/USD +0.0016 (+0.14%), USD/JPY -0.64 (-0.59%). The dollar index on Friday closed lower on the weaker-than-expected U.S. economic data on Mar manufacturing production and Apr University of Michigan U.S. consumer sentiment, which may delay the Fed’s next rate hike.

May WTI crude oil (CLK16 -3.96%) is down -$ 1.50 a barrel (-3.72%). May gasoline (RBK16 -2.26%) is down -0.0361 (-2.47%). Friday’s closes: CLK6 -1.14 (-2.75%), RBK6 -0.0397 (-2.64%). May crude and gasoline on Friday closed lower on the weaker-than-expected U.S. Mar industrial and manufacturing production, which was negative for energy demand, and on long liquidation pressure ahead of Sunday’s oil-producer meeting in Doha.