Live Index – Thu, 13 Feb 2014 Premarket

March E-mini S&Ps (ESH14 -0.44%) this morning are down -0.52% and European stocks are down -0.86%. Cisco fell nearly 4% and led U.S. stocks lower after it forecast quarterly sales below market estimates, while BNP Paribas lost 4% and led European stocks lower after it reported the lowest quarterly result in 6 years. Asian stocks closed mostly lower: Japan -1.79%, Hong Kong -0.54%, China -0.51%, Taiwan -0.51%, Australia -0.04%, Singapore +0.15%, South Korea -0.53%, India -1.25%. Fed Chair Yellen’s testimony today before the Senate Banking Committee was postponed and federal government offices will be closed due to a snowstorm in Washington D.C. Commodity prices are mixed. Mar crude oil (CLH14 -0.57%) is down -0.61%. Mar gasoline (RBH14 -0.68%) is down -0.76%. Apr gold (GCJ14 -0.26%) is down -0.15%. March copper (HGH14 -0.41%) is down -0.46%. Agriculture and livestock prices are higher. The dollar index (DXY00 -0.41%) is down -0.42% at a 2-1/2 week low on expectations for data to show U.S. Jan retail sales stalled. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.51% at a 2-week high. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.51%. March T-note prices (ZNH14 +0.19%) are up +8.5 ticks.

In testimony before the European Parliament, ECB Executive Board member Coeure stated “we have said if we see any downside risk to medium-term price stability then we would have to act.”

The German Jan CPI (EU harmonized) was left unchanged at -0.7% m/m and +1.2% y/y

The Australia Jan employment change unexpectedly fell -3,700, less than expectations of a +15,000 increase, and the Jan unemployment rate rose +0.2 to 6.0%, higher than expectations of +0.1 to 5.9% and the highest in 10-1/2 years.

China Jan passenger-vehicle sales rose +7% y/y to 1.8 million units, weaker than expectations of 1.88 million units and the slowest pace of growth in 11 months.

The UK Jan RICS house price balance unexpectedly fell to 53% from 56% in Dec, less than expectations of an increase to 58%.

The Japan Jan domestic CGPI rose +0.1% m/m and +2.4% y/y, right on expectations.

Today’s weekly initial unemployment claims report is expected to show a slight decline of -1,000 to 330,000, adding to last week’s fairly large decline of -20,000 to 331,000. Meanwhile, continuing claims are expected to fall -4,000 to 2.960 million following last week’s +15,000 increase to 2.964 million. Today’s Jan retail sales report is expected to be weak at unchanged, decelerating from December’s report of +0.2%. Excluding some weakness in auto sales, today’s Jan retail sales report is expected to be a little stronger at +0.1%, down from December’s strong report of +0.7%. The Treasury today will sell $ 16 billion of 30-year T-bonds, concluding this week’s $ 70 billion coupon package.

There are 17 of the S&P 500 companies that report earnings today. Notable reports include BorgWarner (consensus $ 0.71), Avon (0.30), Nielsen (0.71), Goodyear (0.63), Discovery Communications (0.90), Kraft Foods (0.61), Agilent (0.66), and Consolidated Edison (0.66). Equity conferences during the remainder of this week include: Goldman Sachs Technology & Internet Conference on Tue-Thu, Credit Suisse Global Energy Summit on Tue-Thu, Bank of America Merrill Lynch Insurance Conference on Wed-Thu, BB&T Capital Markets Transportation Services Conference on Wed-Thu, Leerink Swann Global Healthcare Conference on Wed-Thu, and Sterne Agee Financial Institutions Investor Conference on Thu.

Molson Coors Brewing (TAP -0.36%) reported Q4 EPS of 68 cents, weaker than consensus of 72 cents.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (HOT +0.43%) reported Q4 EPS of 73 cents, better than consensus of 70 cents.

PepsiCo (PEP +0.30%) reported Q4 EPS of $ 1.05, stronger than consensus of $ 1.00.

Time Warner Cable (TWC +0.30%) jumped 13% in pre-market trading after Comcast agreed to buy the company for about $ 45.2 billion in stock.

General Cable (BGC +0.73%) reported Q4 EPS of 27 cents, weaker than consensus of 29 cents.

Apache (APA -0.12%) sold its Argentina operations to YPF Sociedad (YPF +6.12%) for $ 852 million.

CenturyLink (CTL +1.55%) reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 68 cents, better than consensus of 59 cents.

NVIDIA (NVDA +3.57%) reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 32 cents, well ahead of consensus of 18 cents.

MetLife (MET +0.24%) reported Q4 operating EPS of $ 1.37, better than consensus of $ 1.30.

SunPower (SPWR +1.61%) reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 47 cents, well above consensus of 28 cents.

Insight Enterprises (NSIT +0.43%) reported Q4 EPS of 57 cents, stronger than consensus of 53 cents.

Whole Foods Markets (WFM -0.75%) fell over 7% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 EPS of 42 cents, lower than consensus of 44 cents, and then lowered guidance on fiscal 2014 EPS view to $ 1.58-$ 1.65, below consensus of $ 1.68.

Cisco (CSCO +0.62%) fell nearly 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 47 cents, higher than consensus of 46 cents, but said revenue in the current quarter will be $ 11.2 billion to $ 11.5 billion, at the low end of consensus of $ 11.3 billion.

Applied Materials (AMAT +0.73%) reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 23 cents, better than consensus of 22 cents.

NetApp (NTAP -2.52%) reported Q3 EPS of 75 cents, higher than consensus of 71 cents.

CBS (CBS +1.56%) rose 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 78 cents, better than consensus of 76 cents.

Mar E-mini S&Ps (ESH14 -0.44%) this morning are down -9.50 points (-0.52%). The S&P 500 on Wednesday posted a 2-week high after China Jan exports rose +10.6% y/y, well above expectations of +0.1% y/y, which eased concern about slowing Chinese economic growth. Stocks fell back and settled little changed, however, after St. Louis Fed President Bullard said “right now we’re on track” to continue tapering bond purchases. Closes: S&P 500 -0.03%, Dow Jones -0.19%, Nasdaq 100 +0.16%.

Mar 10-year T-notes (ZNH14 +0.19%) this morning are up +8.5 ticks. Mar 10-year T-note futures prices on Wednesday posted a 2-week low on hawkish comments from St. Louis Fed President Bullard who said “right now we’re on track” to continue tapering bond purchases and “will be able to move out of the program later this year.” T-notes were also undercut by supply pressures as the Treasury auctioned $ 24 billion in 10-year T-notes on Wednesday and will auction $ 16 billion of T-bonds on Thursday as it concludes the Feb quarterly refunding. Closes: TYH4 -10.50, FVH4 -6.00.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.41%) this morning is down -0.341 (-0.42%) at a 2-1/2 week low. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.0070 (+0.51%) at a 2-week high. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.52 (-0.51%). The dollar index on Wednesday closed higher. EUR/USD fell after Eurozone Dec industrial production slid -0.7% m/m, weaker than expectations of -0.3% m/m, and after ECB Council member Coeure said the ECB is considering a negative deposit rate “very seriously.” Closes: Dollar index +0.041 (+0.05%), EUR/USD -0.00446 (-0.33%), USD/JPY -0.103 (-0.10%).

Mar WTI crude oil (CLH14 -0.57%) this morning is down -61 cents (-0.61%) and Mar gasoline (RBH14 -0.68%) is down -0.0210 (-0.76%). Mar crude and gasoline prices Wednesday closed higher with Mar crude at a 3-3/4 month high and Mar gasoline at a 1-1/4 month high. Bullish factors included (1) increased Chinese oil demand after China Jan crude imports jumped +12% y/y to a record 28.15 MMT, (2) the -2.673 million bbl decline in crude supplies at Cushing, OK, the delivery point for WTI futures, to a 3-month low of 37.603 million bbl, and (3) the -1.853 million bbl decline in weekly EIA gasoline inventories, a bigger drop than expectations of -10,000 bbl. Closes: CLH4 +0.43 (+0.43%), RBH4 +0.0105 (+0.38%).