Live Index – Fri, 15 Jul 2016 Premarket

Sep E-mini S&Ps (ESU16 -0.05%) are down -0.17% and European stocks are down -0.79% as equity markets consolidate this week’s gains. Stock prices were weighed down by weakness in energy producers with the price of crude oil (CLQ16 -0.50%) down -0.66%, along with a slide in travel and leisure stocks after the terrorist attack last night in Nice, France that left more than 80 people killed. On the positive side, Chinese economic data on Q2 GDP, industrial production and new lending all came in better than expected. GBP/USD climbed to a 2-week high after the appointment of Theresa May as Prime Minister reduced political instability in the UK. Asian stocks settled mostly higher: Japan +0.68%, Hong Kong +0.46%, China +0.01%, Taiwan +0.94%, Australia +0.33%, Singapore +0.63%, South Korea +0.49%, India -0.38%. Positive economic data from China boosted Asian markets and Japan’s Nikkei Stock Index climbed to a 1-month high as exporter stocks rallied on improved earnings prospects as USD/JPY rose to a 3-week high.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.07%) is down -0.10%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.17%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.42% at a 3-week high.

Sep T-note prices (ZNU16 -0.04%) are down -1 tick.

China Jun industrial production rose +6.2% y/y, stronger than expectations of +5.9% y/y.

China Q2 GDP grew +1.8% q/q and +6.7% y/y, stronger than expectations of +1.6% q/q and +6.6% y/y.

China Jun new yuan loans climbed +1.38 trillion yuan, stronger than expectations of +1.0 trillion yuan and the biggest increase in 5 months.

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) Jun retail sales (expected +0.1% and +0.4% ex autos, May +0.5% and +0.4% ex autos), Jun CPI (expected +0.2% m/m and +1.1% y/y, May +0.2% m/m and +1.0% y/y) and Jun CPI ex food & energy (expected +0.2% m/m and +2.2% y/y, May +0.2% m/m and +2.2% y/y), (3) Jul Empire manufacturing index (expected -1.01 to 5.00, Jun +15.03 to 6.01), (4) Jun industrial production expected (+0.3%, May -0.4%), (5) May business inventories (expected +0.1%, Apr +0.1%), (6) preliminary-Jul University of Michigan U.S. consumer sentiment index (expected -0.2 to 93.3, Jun -1.2 to 93.5), (7) San Francisco Fed President John Williams (non-voter) speaks at the NBER Monetary Economics Summer Institute on Monetary Policy, and (8) Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari (non-voter) and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard (voter) participate in a facilitated discussion at an OMFIF meeting in St. Louis.

S&P 500 companies reporting earnings today: Citigroup (consensus $ 1.10), Wells Fargo (1.01), US Bancorp (0.80), PNC Financial (1.75).

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

Equity conferences this week include: none.

St. Jude Medical (STJ +0.35%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Outperform’ at Wedbush with a 12-month price target of $ 84.

Delta Air Lines (DAL +3.59%) was downgraded to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ at Evercore ISI with a 12-month target price of $ 50.

AMC Networks (AMCX +0.60%) was downgraded to ‘Sell’ from ‘Neutral’ at UBS with a 12-month price target of $ 57.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG +0.32%) was downgraded to ‘Equal Weight’ from ‘Overweight’ at Morgan Stanley who said a “full sales recovery to prior peak volumes could take years.”

Nvidia (NVDA +1.02%) was rated a new ‘Buy’ at Mizuho Securities USA with a 12-month price target of $ 60.

Voyager Therapeutics (VYGR +1.02%) was rated a new ‘Buy’ at Stifel with a 12-month price target of $ 33.

Resources Connection (RECN -2.70%) gained nearly 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 EPS of 23 cents, above consensus of 21 cents.

Qualcomm (QCOM +0.09%) was downgraded to ‘Underperform’ from ‘Market Perform’ at BMO Capital Markets.

Discover Financial (DFS +1.29%) said it will repurchase $ 2.5 billion of its stock over the next five quarters, more than the $ 1.95 billion the company said it would repurchase on June 26.

Alere (ALR +0.20%) fell 2% in after-hours trading after it reported preliminary Q1 revenue of $ 573 million-$ 593 million, below consensus of $ 598.9 million.

Fairmount Santrol Holdings (FMSA +0.74%) tumbled 6% in after-hours trading after it reported preliminary Q2 revenue of $ 113 million-$ 115 million, well below consensus of $ 135.6 million.

ZIOPHARM Oncology (ZIOP +0.35%) fell 12% in after-hours trading after it abandoned its bid to raise $ 40 million-$ 50 million this week.

Sep E-mini S&Ps (ESU16 -0.05%) this morning are down -3.75 points (-0.17%). Thursday’s closes: S&P 500 +0.53%, Dow Jones +0.73%, Nasdaq +0.67%. The S&P 500 on Thursday rallied to a fresh record high and closed higher on the positive U.S. weekly initial unemployment claims report, which was unchanged at a 2-3/4 month low of +254,000 and was better than expectations of +11,000 to 265,000. Stocks were also boosted by a rally in bank stocks led by a 2% jump in JPMorgan Chase after it reported better-than-expected Q2 earnings.

Sep 10-year T-note prices (ZNU16 -0.04%) this morning are down -1 tick. Thursday’s closes: TYU6 -14.00, FVU6 -6.00. Sep T-notes on Thursday sold off to a 2-1/2 week low and closed lower on reduced safe-haven demand with the rally in the S&P 500 to a new all-time high. T-notes were also undercut by the positive weekly U.S. jobless claims report, which was unchanged at a 2-3/4 month low of 254,000.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.07%) this morning is down -0.099 (-0.10%), EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.0019 (+0.17%) and USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.44 (+0.42%) at a fresh 3-week high. Thursday’s closes: Dollar index -0.139 (-0.14%), EUR/USD +0.0030 (+0.27%), USD/JPY +0.86 (+0.82%). The dollar index on Thursday closed lower on dovish comments from Atlanta Fed President Lockhart who said he supports a “cautious and patient” approach to Fed policy. GBP/USD which climbed to a 2-week high after the BOE unexpectedly refrained from cutting interest rates or adding stimulus at its policy meeting. The dollar found support as the rally in stocks undercut the safe-haven demand for the yen as USD/JPY rose to a 2-1/2 week high.

Aug WTI crude oil prices (CLQ16 -0.50%) this morning are down -30 cents (0.66%) and Aug gasoline prices (RBQ16 +0.45%) are up +0.0007 (+0.05%). Thursday’s closes: CLQ6 +0.93 (+2.08%), RBQ6 +0.0356 (+2.58%). Aug crude oil and gasoline on Thursday closed higher on the weaker dollar and the rally in the S&P 500 to a record high.