US : Pre Market News – 27 Jul 2016

Sep E-mini S&Ps (ESU16 +0.15%) this morning are mildly higher by +0.2% and the Euro Stoxx 50 index is up +1.1% on a +6% rally in Apple overnight and on Japanese Prime Minister Abe’s announcement of a 28 trillion yen ($ 265 billion) fiscal stimulus package. Mr. Abe was not expected to announce the package size until next week but he likely wanted to increase the pressure on the BOJ for new monetary policy stimulus measures at its Thursday-Friday meeting. Apple in yesterday’s post-close quarterly results said that iPhone demand picked up and the company’s Q4 sales guidance was above the market consensus. The markets remain on edge, however, ahead of today’s FOMC post-meeting statement. A negative factor for European stocks today was a -4% sell-off in Deutsche Bank after the bank said that it barely earned a profit due to a drop in trading revenue and job-reduction costs. Twitter is down -11% overnight due to disappointing Q3 revenue guidance. The Chinese stock market closed lower today after a media report that China’s banking regulator is considering moves to tighten up wealth management products.

Asian stocks today, except for China, closed higher: Japan +1.72%, Hong Kong +0.40%, China Shanghai -1.91%, Taiwan +0.43%, Australia +0.04%, Singapore +0.27%, South Korea unchanged, India +0.17%, Turkey +0.88%.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.15%) this morning is trading slightly higher by +0.08%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.0012 (+0.11%). USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.84 (+0.80%) this morning as the yen moved lower on PM Abe’s fiscal-stimulus announcement which increased the pressure on the BOJ for more monetary stimulus. GBP/USD is down -0.0037 (-0.28%) this morning despite today’s slightly stronger than-expected UK Q2 GDP report of +0.6% q/q and +2.2% (vs expectations of +0.5% q/q and +2.1%). The UK Q2 GDP data precedes the June 23 Brexit vote and will not deter the BOE next week from likely cutting rates a notch.

Sep 10-year T-note prices (ZNU16 -0.07%) this morning are down -3 ticks on reduced safe-haven demand due to higher global stocks. In addition, T-notes are still seeing weakness after the poor demand for yesterday’s 5-year T-note auction. The Treasury today will sell $ 15 billion of 2-year floating rate notes and on Thursday will sell $ 28 billion of 7-year T-notes.

Commodity prices this morning are mildly lower by -0.16%. Sep crude oil (CLU16 -0.44%) is down by another -0.20 (-0.47%) and Sep gasoline (RBU16 -0.16%) is down -0.0021 (-0.16%) after the API on Tuesday reported that Cushing oil inventories rose +1.4 million bbls and that U.S. crude oil inventories rose by +827,000 bbls. Metals prices this morning are steady to lower on a slightly stronger dollar: Aug gold (GCQ16 -0.08%) -0.7 (-0.05%), Sep silver (SIU16 -0.07%) +0.007 (+0.04%), Sep copper (HGU16 -0.56%) -0.016 (-0.70%). Grain prices this morning are mixed as the focus remains on weather: Dec corn unchanged, Nov soybeans +4.50 (+0.46%), Sep wheat -0.50 (-0.12%). Softs this morning are mixed: Oct sugar -0.15 (-0.77%), Sep coffee +1.10 (+0.78%), Sep cocoa +7 (+0.25%), Dec cotton -0.08 (-0.11%).

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) weekly MBA mortgage applications (previous -1.3% with purchase sub-index -2.0% and refi sub-index down -0.9%), (2) Jun durable goods orders (expected -1.4% and +0.3% ex-transportation, May -2.3% and -0.3% ex-transportation), (3) Jun pending home sales (expected +1.2% m/m and +3.0% y/y, May -3.7% m/m and +2.4% y/y), (4) Treasury auctions $ 15 billion of 2-year floating-rate notes, (5) 2-day FOMC policy meeting ends with post-meeting statement (no Fed Chair press conference), and (6) EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report.

There are 54 of the S&P 500 companies that report earnings today with notable reports including: Facebook (0.82), Coca-Cola (0.58), Waste Management (0.71), Comcast (0.81), Nasdaq (0.88), Boeing (-0.94), Amgen (2.74), Whole Foods (0.37), Wynn Resorts (0.90).

U.S. IPO’s scheduled to price today: Kinsdale Capital Group (KNSL).

Equity conferences this week include: none.

Sep E-mini S&Ps this morning are mildly higher by +0.2% on a +6% rally in Apple overnight and on Japanese Prime Minister Abe’s announcement of a 28 trillion yen ($ 265 billion) fiscal stimulus package. Tuesday’s closes: S&P 500 +0.03%, Dow Jones -0.10%, Nasdaq +0.24%. The S&P 500 on Tuesday closed little changed. Stocks were undercut by technical selling and concern that the FOMC at its Tue-Wed meeting might adopt more hawkish language. Energy producers continued to be undercut by the ongoing sell-off in Sep crude oil prices. Stocks received support from the stronger-than-expected U.S. consumer confidence index (-0.1 to 97.3 vs expectations for a decline 96.0) and June new home sales report (+3.5%).

• Apple (AAPL -0.69%) rallied +6% in overnight trading after its earnings report included news that iPhone sales were stronger than expected and that revenue fell by less than expected.
• Twitter (TWTR -1.07%) is down -11% in overnight trading on weaker-than-expected Q3 revenue guidance of $ 590-610 million, far below the consensus of $ 681 million, which fueled recent concerns that the company is struggling to boost advertising revenue as user growth stagnates.
• Earnings reports this morning have nearly all beaten expectations. Notable results include Anthem (ANTM -1.71%) (3.33 vs 3.23 consensus), Coca-Cola ({=KO) (0.60 vs 0.58), Comcast (CMCSA -0.43%) (0.83 vs 0.81), State Street (STT +0.92%) (1.46 vs 1.27), Rockwell (ROK +2.08%) (1.55 vs 1.46), Nasdaq (NDAQ +0.09%) (0.91 vs 0.88), Waste Management (WM +0.19%) (0.74 vs 0.71),
• Analog Devices (ADI +3.87%) rallied +7% in after-hours trading after the earlier announcement that it is buying Linear Technology (LLTC +28.93%) for $ 14.8 billion at a premium of 24% to Monday’s closing price. Linear Technology on Tuesday closed up +29%.
• Fiesta Restaurant Group (FRGI -6.96%) rallied +2% in after-hours trading after being named to the S&P SmallCap 600 index.
• LogMeIn (LOGM +6.74%) rallied 19% in after-hours trading after news that the company will merge with Citrix’s (CTXS +1.19%) GoTo family of products. Citrix fell -1.2% in after-hours trading on the news.
• Edwards Sciences (EW +1.72%) rallied by +6% in after-hours trading after reporting above-consensus ex-items adjusted EPS of 76 cents (vs the 70 cent consensus) and raising its 2016 earnings guidance for the third quarter in a row.
• Panera Bread (PNRA -4.32%) rallied +4% in after-hours trading after reporting better than expected adjusted EPS of $ 1.78 (vs consensus $ 1.74).
• Akamai Technologies (AKAM +0.33%) fell by -10% in after-hours trading after missing Q2 revenue estimates.
• Juniper Networks (JNPR +0.67%) fell -1% in after-hours trading after its Q3 earnings guidance of 48-54 cents missed the consensus of 54 cents. Q2 adjusted EPS of 50 cents was above the 47-cent consensus.

Sep 10-year T-note prices this morning are down -3 ticks on reduced safe-haven demand due to higher global stocks and on supply overhang ahead of the Treasury’s auction of 2-year floating rate notes today and 7-year T-notes on Thursday. Tuesday’s closes: TYU6 +2, FVU6 +0.75. Sep 10-year T-notes on Tuesday closed mildly higher on the soft stock market and the continued decline in crude oil prices, which dampened inflation expectations. T-notes were undercut by poor demand for Tuesday’s 5-year T-note auction, which saw the lowest bid cover ratio since 2009. T-notes were also undercut by some concern that the FOMC at its Tue-Wed meeting might adopt more hawkish language in its post-meeting statement.

The dollar index this morning is trading slightly higher by +0.08%. EUR/USD is up +0.0012 (+0.11%). USD/JPY is up +0.84 (+0.80%) this morning as the yen moved lower on PM Abe’s fiscal-stimulus announcement which increased the pressure on the BOJ for more monetary stimulus. Tuesday’s closes: Dollar index -0.13 (-0.13%), EUR/USD -0.0009 (-0.08%), USD/JPY -1.15 (-1.09%). The dollar index on Tuesday closed mildly lower. The yen rallied sharply by +1.09% on Tuesday on Japanese Finance Minister Aso’s comment that the government will “leave actual policy measures to the BOJ,” which doused hopes for a big Japanese fiscal stimulus program. The dollar found support on ideas the FOMC at its Tue-Wed meeting might adopt slightly more hawkish post-meeting statement language.

Sep crude oil is down by another -0.20 (-0.47%) and Sep gasoline is down -0.0021 (-0.16%) after the API on Tuesday reported that Cushing oil inventories rose +1.4 million bbls and that U.S. crude oil inventories rose by +827,000 bbls. Tuesday’s closes: CLU6 -0.21 (-0.49%), RBU6 +0.0101 (+0.76%). Sep crude oil and gasoline closed mixed on Tuesday. Crude oil was undercut by continued technical selling as Sep crude oil fell to a new 3-month low and by continued concern about the crude oil glut and the increasing number of active U.S. oil wells. Crude oil was supported by the mildly lower dollar index and expectations for Wednesday’s weekly EIA report to show a -2.5 million bbl decline in U.S. crude oil inventories.