US : Pre Market News – 19 Aug 2016

Sep E-mini S&Ps (ESU16 -0.27%) are down -0.27% and European stocks are down -0.88% at a 2-week low over uncertainty regarding the timing of the Fed’s next interest rate increase. San Francisco Fed President Williams said late yesterday that the Sep FOMC meeting is “in play” for a rate move as are all meetings. That pushed up the dollar index, which undercut commodity prices and pressured mining stocks and energy producers. Asian stocks settled mixed: Japan +0.60%, Hong Kong -0.37%, China +0.13%, Taiwan -0.97%, Australia +0.34%, Singapore +0.25%, South Korea +0.22%, India -0.17%.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.26%) is up +0.29%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.26%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.32%.

Sep T-note prices (ZNU16 -0.09%) are down -4.5 ticks.

San Francisco Fed President Williams (non-voter) said that there are some views in the market that the Fed is on hold for a long time and he “doesn’t think that’s consistent” with what the Fed is saying. He added that he’s ok with uncertainty around the timing of a Fed interest rate rake and that the Sep FOMC meeting is “in play” for a rate move as are all meetings.

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) USDA Jul Cattle on Feed.

S&P 500 companies that report earnings today: Deere & Co. (consensus $ 0.94), Foot Locker expected 90 cents, Estee Lauder expected 40 cents.

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

Equity conferences this week: n/a.

U.S. Steel (X +1.49%) was downgraded to ‘Underweight’ from ‘Sector Weight’ at Keyblanc Capital Markets.

Thor Industries (THO +2.40%) was downgraded to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ at Wunderlich Securities.

Allergan Plc (AGN -0.15%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at Mizuho Securities with a 12-month target price of $ 318.

Hormel Foods (HRL +1.90%) was upgraded to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Market Perform’ at BMO Capital Markets.

Applied Materials (AMAT +1.43%) jumped over 5% in pre-market trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 50 cents, better than consensus of 48 cents, and said it sees Q4 adjusted EPS of 61 cents-69 cents, well above consensus of 48 cents.

Ross Stores (ROST +0.93%) climbed 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 EPS of 71 cents, above consensus of 67 cents, and then raised guidance on full-year EPS to $ 2.69-$ 2.75 from a prior view of $ 2.63-$ 2.72.

Square (SQ +3.07%) rose over 3% in pre-market trading after Point72 Asset Management disclosed a new 5.4% passive stake in the company, making it the third largest shareholder.

The GAP (GPS +1.65%) lost almost 1% in after-hours trading after it said it sees 2016 EPS of $ 1.87-$ 1.92, below consensus of $ 1.94.

Pentair PLC (PNR -0.09%) gained over 1% in after-hours trading after it said its sold its valves & controls business to Emerson for $ 3.15 billion.

Mentor Graphics (MENT +1.65%) surged 13% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 15 cents, higher than consensus of 9 cents.

Forex Capital Markets LLC (FXCM +2.61%) tumbled nearly 10% in after-hours trading after the CFTC charged the company with undercapitalization and failure to timely report its undercapitalization violation.

Corrections Corp of America (CXW -35.45%) jumped over 6% in after-hours trading after it said the inspector general’s report on private prisons contains “significant flaws” and that the findings don’t match up with “numerous independent studies.” GEO Group (GEO -39.58%) also rallied 5% on the news.

New York & Co. (NWY +3.54%) surged over 20% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 net sales of $ 232.8 million, better than consensus of $ 227.0 million.

Sep E-mini S&Ps (ESU16 -0.27%) this morning are down -6.00 points (-0.27%). Thursday’s closes: S&P 500 +0.22%, Dow Jones +0.13%, Nasdaq +0.07%. The S&P 500 on Thursday closed higher after U.S. weekly jobless claims fell -4,000 to 262,000, a bigger decline than expectations of -1,000 to 265,000, and after U.S. Jul leading indicators rose +0.4%, stronger than expectations of +0.3%. Gains were limited on global growth concerns after Japan Jul exports fell -14.0% y/y, weaker than expectations of -13.7% y/y and the biggest decline in 6-3/4 years.

Sep 10-year T-notes (ZNU16 -0.09%) this morning are down -4.5 ticks. Thursday’s closes: TYU6 +8.50, FVU6 +6.25. Sep T-notes on Thursday closed higher on carryover support from a rally in German bunds on speculation the ECB may expand stimulus measures after the minutes of the Jul 20-21 ECB meeting said that “no clear upward trend in inflation was as yet visible.” T-notes also moved higher on carryover support from Wednesday’s Jul 26 27 FOMC meeting minutes that stated Fed officials wanted to see more data before deciding on whether to raise interest rates.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.26%) this morning is up +0.275 (+0.29%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.0029 (-0.26%). USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.32 (+0.32%). Thursday’s closes: Dollar index -0.558 (-0.59%), EUR/USD +0.0065 (+0.58%), USD/JPY -0.39 (-0.39%). The dollar index on Thursday tumbled to a 1-3/4 month low and closed lower on negative carryover from Wednesday’s Jul 26-27 FOMC minutes that showed Fed members were divided over the urgency to raise interest rates. Another negative for the dollar was strength in GBP/USD which rallied to a 1-1/2 week high after UK Jul retail sales rose more than expected.

Sep WTI crude oil (CLU16 -0.08%) this morning is down -14 cents (-0.29%) and Sep gasoline (RBU16 -0.85%) is down -0.0109 (-0.73%). Thursday’s closes: CLU6 +1.55 (+3.31%), RBU6 +0.0392 (+2.70%). Sep crude oil and gasoline on Thursday rallied to 5-week highs and closed higher after the dollar index slumped to a 1-3/4 month low along with positive carryover from Wednesday’ EIA data that showed EIA crude inventories fell -2.508 million bbl. (vs expectations of -900,000 bbl), and EIA gasoline stockpiles fell -2.724 million bbl (vs expectations of -1.8 million bbl).