US : Pre Market News – 17 Aug 2016

Sep E-mini S&Ps (ESU16 -0.03%) are little changed, down -0.06%, as the market looks to today’s minutes of the Jul 26-27 FOMC meeting to gauge the timing of the Fed’s next interest rate increase. Stocks fell back from a record high Tuesday after New York Fed President Dudley (voter) said the Fed could potentially raise interest rates as soon as next month. European stocks are down -0.70% at a 1-week low, led by losses in tech-nology stocks, as ASML Holding NV dropped 5% after Intel said it won’t use the semiconductor-equipment maker’s lithography technology to make some of its chips. Also, chemical companies were weaker, led by a 4% decline in Linde AG, after Citigroup said that Linde’s potential merger with Praxair would face tough regulatory hurdles. Asian stocks settled mixed: Japan +0.90%, Hong Kong -0.48%, China -0.02%, Taiwan +0.08%, Australia +0.06%, Singapore -0.54%, South Korea -0.04%, India -0.21%.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.14%) is up +0.18%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.08%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.37%.

Sep T-note prices (ZNU16 -0.06%) are down -5 ticks at a 1-week low on carryover selling from Tuesday due to comments from New York Fed President Dudley who said the bond market looked “a little stretched” and a Fed interest rate hike could come as soon as next month.

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) Weekly MBA mortgage applications, (2) EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report, (3) St. Louis Fed President James Bullard (voter) speaks on the U.S. economy and monetary policy at a wealth and asset management research conference, (4) Minutes of the Jul 26-27 FOMC meeting.

S&P 500 companies that report earnings today: Target (consensus $ 1.13), Lowe’s expected $ 1.42, Staples expected 12 cents, Analog Devices expected 78 cents, Cisco Systems expected 60 cents, L Brands expected 59 cents, NetApp expected 36 cents, Agilent Technologies expected 47 cents.

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

Equity conferences this week: Wedbush PacGrow Health Care Conference on Tue-Wed, Barclays California MedTools Summit on Wed, Barclays Kohler Utility Mini-Conference on Thu.

Target (TGT -0.07%) fell over 3% in pre-market trading after it cut its fiscal 2017 adjusted EPS view to $ 4.80-$ 5.20 from a February view of $ 5.20-$ 5.40.

Lowe’s (LOW -0.07%) tumbled nearly 7% in pre-market trading after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS of $ 1.37, weaker than consensus of $ 1.42.

Mosaic (MOS -1.27%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Positive’ at Susquehanna.

Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD -0.21%) was rated a new ‘Outperform’ at Bernstein.

Jack Henry & Associates (JKHY -0.52%) reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 84 cents, excluding gain on sale, bet-ter than consensus of 80 cents.

Southern Co. (SO -1.03%) lost nearly 2% in after-hours trading after it started a 32.5 million-share offering.

Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen (PLKI +2.70%) lost nearly 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 compa-rable sales were up +0.7%, weaker than consensus of +1.8%, and reported Q2 revenue of $ 61.7 mil-lion, below consensus of $ 63.3 million.

Cree (CREE -2.00%) fell 9% in pre-market trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 19 cents, weaker than consensus of 20 cents, and then said it sees Q1 adjusted EPS of 10-cents-16 cents, below consen-sus of 21 cents.

Urban Outfitters (URBN unch) rallied 12% in pre-market trading after it reported Q2 EPS of 66 cents, better than consensus of 55 cents.

Dycom Industries (DY -2.89%) will replace FirstMerit in the S&P MidCap 400 after the close of trading, Thursday, Aug 18.

OSI Systems (OSIS -2.74%) gained over 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 55 cents, better than consensus of 49 cents, and then raised guidance on 2017 adjusted EPS to $ 2.60-$ 2.90, higher than consensus of $ 2.42.

Barnes & Noble (BKS -1.04%) said that CEO Ronald Boire will leave and its board determined that he was “not a good fit” for the company.

Wildan (WLDN +0.41%) jumped nearly 7% in after-hours trading after it was awarded a 3-year $ 35.4 million contract by a “leading” utility in the western U.S. to implement its small business direct install and in-dustrial sector energy efficiency program.

Sep E-mini S&Ps (ESU16 -0.03%) this morning are down -1.25 points (-0.06%). Tuesday’s closes: S&P 500 -0.55%, Dow Jones -0.45%, Nasdaq -0.62%. The S&P 500 on Tuesday closed lower on hawkish comments from New York Fed President Dudley who said the Fed could potentially raise interest rates at next month’s FOMC meeting as inves-tors are too “complacent” on the likelihood of increases in borrowing costs. Stocks also fell back after the unexpected -0.1% decline in U.S. Jul building permits, a proxy for future construction, which was weaker than expectations of +0.6% to 1.16 million. On the positive side, U.S. Jul manufacturing pro-duction rose +0.5% m/m, stronger than expectations of +0.3% m/m and the largest increase in a year.

Sep 10-year T-notes (ZNU16 -0.06%) this morning are down -5 ticks at a 1-week low. Tuesday’s closes: TYU6 -8.00, FVU6 -4.75. Sep T-notes on Tuesday fell to a 1-week low and closed lower after U.S. Jul housing starts and Jul manufacturing pro-duction rose more than expected, which may prompt the Fed to raise interest rates. T-note prices fell further after New York Fed President Dudley (Voter) said the Fed may raise interest rates next month and that investors are too “complacent” on the likelihood of Fed interest rate increases.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.14%) this morning is up +0.166 (+0.18%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.0009 (-0.08%). USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.37 (+0.37%). Tuesday’s closes: Dollar index -0.838 (-0.88%), EUR/USD +0.0095 (+0.85%), USD/JPY -0.95 (-0.94%). The dollar index on Tuesday tumbled to a 7-week low and closed lower after U.S. Jul CPI rose less than expected, which bolsters the case for the Fed to refrain from raising interest rates. Another negative for the dollar was the slide in stocks, which boosted the safe-haven demand for the yen as USD/JPY dropped a 7-week low.

Sep WTI crude oil (CLU16 -0.19%) this morning is down -42 cents (-0.90%) and Sep gasoline (RBU16 -1.52%) is down -0.0271 (-1.90%). Tuesday’s closes: CLU6 +0.84 (+1.84%), RBU6 +0.0219 (+1.56%). Sep crude oil and gasoline on Tuesday rallied up to 4-week highs and closed higher as the dollar index sold-off to a 7-week low and as optimism increased that OPEC talks next month could result in a freeze in crude production after Russian Energy Minister Novak said on Monday that Russia is open to cooperation with OPEC to help stabilize the oil market. A negative for crude prices is the outlook for Wednesday’s weekly EIA crude inventories to increase by +900,000 bbl.