Live Index – Fri, 21 Feb 2014 Premarket

March E-mini S&Ps (ESH14 +0.23%) this morning are up +0.20% and European stocks are up +0.11% as G-20 finance ministers and central bankers gather in Sydney for a 2-day meeting. According to a draft communique for this weekend’s meeting, the G-20 finance chiefs will back the withdrawal of stimulus in advanced economies and commit to developing new measures to boost economic growth. Asian stocks closed mostly higher: Japan +2.88%, Hong Kong +0.78%, China -1.01%, Taiwan +0.91%, Australia +0.49%, Singapore +0.43%, South Korea +1.70%, India +0.80%. Commodity prices are mixed. Apr crude oil (CLJ14 -0.24%) is down -0.30%. Apr gasoline (RBJ14 -0.48%) is down -0.49%. Apr gold (GCJ14 +0.40%) is up +0.36%. March copper (HGH14 -0.05%) is down -0.24% on signs of reduced Chinese demand after weekly Shanghai copper inventories rose +13,770 MT to a 9-month high of 194,111 MT. Agriculture and livestock prices are mixed. The dollar index (DXY00 +0.13%) is up +0.12%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.08%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.13% as the yen weakened after BOJ Governor Kuroda said now is not the time to discuss exiting QE. March T-note prices (ZNH14 -0.09%) are unch.

BOJ Governor Kuroda said it is “too early” for a detailed discussion of exiting QE as Japan is only halfway on path toward the BOJ’s 2% inflation target.

UK Jan retail sales ex-autos fell -1.5% m/m, the biggest decline in 2-1/2 years and more than expectations of -1.2% m/m, while on an annual basis Jan retail sales ex-autos rose +4.8% y/y, less than expectations of +5.0% y/y. Jan retail sales including autos fell -1.5% m/m, the biggest drop in 1-3/4 years and more than expectations of -1.0% m/m. On an annual basis, Jan retail sales including autos rose +4.3%, less than expectations of +5.0% y/y.

UK Jan public sector net borrowing fell -6.4 billion pounds, less than expectations of -9.1 billion pounds, but still the biggest decline in a year.

Today’s Jan existing home sales report is expected to show a decline of -4.1% to a 1-1/2 year low of 4.67 million, more than reversing the +1.0% increase to 4.87 million seen in December. G-20 central bank chiefs and finance ministers will attend a G-20 meeting over the weekend in Sydney. There are no equity conferences today. There are 4 of the S&P 500 companies that report earnings today: Pinnacle West Capital (consensus $ 0.19), Ecolab (1.05), Graham Holdings, and Ameren (0.13).

Signet Jewelers (SIG +0.61%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at Sterne Agee.

FBR Capital raised its price target for priceline.com (PCLN +0.73%) to $ 1,500 from $ 1,300 and keeps an ‘Outperform’ rating on the stock.

Donaldson (DCI +1.43%) reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 39 cents, higher than consensus of 36 cents.

Kindred Healthcare (KND -0.31%) reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 15 cents, better than consensus of 13 cents.

MRC Global (MRC +2.00%) reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 32 cents, well below consensus of 41 cents.

Pilgrim’s Pride (PPC +2.34%) reported Q4 EPS of 55 cents, higher than consensus of 47 cents.

Express Scripts (ESRX +0.97%) reported Q4 EPS of $ 1.12, right on consensus, but reported Q4 revenue of $ 25.78 billion, sronger than consensus of $ 25.37 billion.

Mohawk (MHK +1.32%) reported Q4 EPS ex-items of $ 1.79, better than consensus of $ 1.75.

Total (TOT +0.84%) was upgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Sell’ at Goldman Sachs.

Marvell (MRVL +2.28%) reported Q4 EPS of 29 cents, higher than consensus of 25 cents.

Nordstrom (JWN +0.95%) reported Q4 EPS of $ 1.37, higher than consensus of $ 1.34.

Groupon (GRPN +2.59%) rallied 14% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 EPS of 4 cents, double consensus of 2 cents, but then erased its advance and tumbled 12% after it said it expects a -2 cent to a -4 cent loss in Q1, weaker than consensus of a 6 cent gain.

Priceline.com (PCLN +0.73%) rose over 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 EPS of $ 8.85, well above consensus of $ 8.29.

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ +2.51%) reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 90 cents, better than consensus of 84 cents.

Mar E-mini S&Ps (ESH14 +0.23%) this morning are up +3,75 points (+0.20%). The S&P 500 on Thursday shrugged off concerns of slowing global economic growth and closed higher on increased M&A activity as Facebook’s acquisition of a mobile start-up for $ 19 billion signals increased optimism in the economic outlook. Stocks had opened lower on global growth concerns after the China Feb HSBC/Markit flash manufacturing PMI fell -1.2 to a 7-month low of 48.3 and after the Eurozone Feb PMI composite unexpectedly fell -0.2 to 52.7. Stocks shrugged off the -15.7 point plunge in the Feb Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index to a 1-year low of -6.3 as weather-related. Closes: S&P 500 +0.60%, Dow Jones +0.58%, Nasdaq 100 +0.52%.

Mar 10-year T-notes (ZNH14 -0.09%) this morning are unch. Mar 10-year T-note futures prices on Thursday closed lower on speculation that the weather-induced weakness in recent U.S. economic data will fail to deter the Fed in its QE3 tapering regime. Another negative for T-notes was reduced safe-haven demand for Treasuries after stocks shook off early losses and moved higher. Closes: TYH4 -7.50, FVH4 -4.50.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.13%) this morning is up +0.100 (+0.12%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.0011 (-0.08%). USD/JPY ^USDJPY) is up +0.13 (+0.13%). The dollar index on Thursday closed higher on carry-over support from Wednesday’s minutes of the Jan 28-29 FOMC meeting that signaled the Fed will continue to taper QE3. EUR/USD retreated after the Eurozone Feb PMI composite unexpectedly fell -0.2 to 52.7, weaker than expectations of +0.2 to 53.1. Closes: Dollar index +0.142 (+0.18%), EUR/USD -0.00146 (-0.11%), USD/JPY -0.036 (-0.04%).

Apr WTI crude oil (CLJ14 -0.24%) this morning is down -31 cents (-0.30%) and Apr gasoline (RBJ14 -0.48%) is down -0.0148 (-0.49%). Apr crude and gasoline prices Thursday settled mixed. Bearish factors for crude included (1) the stronger dollar, and (2) the unexpected +309,000 bbl increase in weekly EIA gasoline inventories, more than expectations for a -850,000 bbl draw. Bullish factors included (1) the -1.733 million bbl drop in crude inventories at Cushing, the delivery point for WTI futures, to a 3-1/2 month low of 35.9 million bbl, and (2) the +973,000 bbl rise in weekly EIA crude supplies, less than expectations of a +2.25 million bbl increase. Closes: CLJ4 -0.09 (-0.09%), RBJ4 +0.0242 (+0.81%).