US : Pre Market News – 28 Sep 2016

Dec E-mini S&Ps (ESZ16 -0.01%) are up +0.01% and European stocks are up +0.97% after Deutsche Bank AG rose for the first time in 4 sessions. Deutsche Bank is up over 2% and is leading a rally in European bank stocks after it sold its Abbey Life Assurance Co. to Phoenix Group Holdings for 935 million pounds ($ 1.2 billion). Deutsche Bank also rose after CEO Cryan ruled out a capital increase and said he hasn’t sought help from the German government. Royal Bank of Scotland Plc gained after it agreed to pay $ 1.1 billion to settle National Credit Union Administration claims that it sold faulty mortgage-backed securities to U.S. credit unions. Crude oil (CLX16 +1.48%) is up +1.50% after API data late yesterday showed U.S. crude inventories declined -752,000 bbl. last week. Asian stocks settled mixed: Japan -1.31%, Hong Kong +0.20%, China -0.34%, Taiwan closed due to Typhoon Megi, Australia +0.12%, Singapore -0.08%, South Korea -0.52%, India +0.24%.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.10%) is up +0.09%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.03%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.29%.

Dec 10-year T-note prices (ZNZ16 -0.13%) are down -6 ticks.

ECB President Draghi said “if interest rates are to rise safely from the lower bound, we need structural reforms to raise potential output in the Eurozone and boost long-run interest rates.”

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) weekly MBA mortgage applications (previous -7.3% with purchase sub-index -6.8% and refi sub-index -7.6%), (2) Aug durable goods orders (expected -1.5% and -0.5% ex transportation, Jul +4.4% and +1.3% ex transportation), (3) Fed Chair Janet Yellen testifies before the House Financial Services Committee on the topic of bank supervision and regulation, (4) St. Louis Fed President James Bullard (voter) delivers introductory and welcoming comments at the “Community Banking in the 21st Century” conference, (5) the Treasury’s auction of $ 13 billion of 2-year floating rate notes and $ 28 billion of 7-year T-notes, (6) Chicago Fed President Charles Evans (non-voter) delivers a keynote address at the research conference “Community Banking in the 21st Century,” (7) Kansas City Fed President Esther George (voter) speaks at an event hosted by the Kansas City Fed titled “Banking and the Economy: A Forum for Minority Bankers,” (8) EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report.

Russell 1000 companies that report earnings today: Paychex (consensus $ 0.57), Santander Consumer USA Holdings (0.68).

U.S. IPO’s scheduled to price today: MedEquities Realty Trust (MRT), Tabula Rasa HealthCare (TRHC), Alliance MMA (AMMA).

Equity conferences during the remainder of this week include: Deutsche Bank Leveraged Finance Conference on Tue, JMP Securities Financial Services & Real Estate Conference on Tue, Wolfe Research Power and Gas Leaders Conference on Tue-Wed, Leerink Partners Rare Disease & Immuno Oncology Roundtable Conference on Wed-Thu.

AT&T (T +0.78%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at UBS.

Macy’s (M +0.99%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Outperform’ at Credit Suisse.

Amazon.com (AMZN +2.12%) was rated a new ‘Buy’ at Nomura with a price target of $ 950.

Coty (COTY -0.51%) jumped nearly 5% in after-hours trading after it was announced that it will replace Diamond Offshore Drilling in the S&P 500
at the close of trading Friday, September 30.

Nike (NKE +1.73%) fell over 3% in pre-market trading after it reported worldwide futures orders ex-forex were up +7%, weaker than consensus of +8%.

Alphabet (GOOGL +1.01%) fell 1% in after-hours trading after it was downgraded to ‘Underperform’ from ‘Neutral’ at Wed bush.

Cintas (CTAS +0.21%) rose 3% in after-hours trading after it boosted its full-year EPS continuing operations estimate to $ 4.55-$ 4.63 from a July 19 view of $ 4.35-$ 4.45.

Sonic (SONC +0.18%) slid 2% in after-hours trading after it said Q4 adjusted EPS will be 43 cents-45 cents, below consensus of 48 cents as preliminary system-wide same-store sales were down -2%.

Landec (LNDC +1.81%) reported Q1 EPS of 12 cents, above consensus of 10 cents, although Q2 revenue of $ 132.4 million was below consensus of $ 134.5 million.

Tempur Sealy International (TPX -0.07%) plunged over 20% in pre-market trading after it lowered guidance on full-year net sales to down -1% to -3% from a prior view of growth in the low single-digit range.

Harmonic (HLIT +1.30%) rose 4% in after-hours trading after a warrant agreement with Comcast will give Comcast the opportunity to acquire Harmonic shares based on specific HLIT product sales and deployment milestones.

Fiesta Restaurant Group (FRGI -0.65%) climbed 2% in after-hours trading after it suspended the separation of Taco Cabana on “challenging market conditions.”

Origin Agritech Ltd. (SEED -0.43%) surged nearly 30% in after-hours trading after it announced plans to sell its commercial seed production and distribution business for $ 60 million to Beijing Shihui Agricultural Development.

Dec E-mini S&Ps (ESZ16 -0.01%) this morning are up +0.25 of a point (+0.01%). Tuesday’s closes: S&P 500 +0.64%, Dow Jones +0.74%, Nasdaq +1.03%. The S&P 500 on Tuesday closed higher on the outcome of Monday night’s presidential debate. Stocks were also boosted by the unexpected +2.3 point increase in U.S. Sep consumer confidence to a 9-year high of 104.1, stronger than expectations of -2.1 to 99.0. Stocks were undercut by lower energy producer stocks after the price of crude oil fell -2.74%.

Dec 10-year T-notes (ZNZ16 -0.13%) this morning are down -6 ticks. Tuesday’s closes: TYZ6 +7.00, FVZ6 +3.00. Dec 10-year T-notes on Tuesday rose to a 1-1/2 month high and closed higher on carry-over support from a rally in German bunds to a 2-1/2 month high as European banking concerns fueled safe-haven demand for government debt. T-notes were also boosted by the -2.74% slide in crude oil prices, which undercut inflation expectations. T-note prices were undercut by the unexpected rise in U.S. Sep consumer confidence to a 9-year high.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.10%) this morning is up +0.085 (+0.09%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.0003 (-0.03%). USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.29 (+0.29%). Tuesday’s closes: Dollar index +0.138 (+0.14%), EUR/USD -0.0039 (-0.35%), USD/JPY +0.10 (+0.10%). The dollar index on Tuesday closed higher on weakness in the crude-exporting currencies of Canada and Russia against the dollar after crude oil price tumbled -2.74%. The dollar was also boosted by weakness in EUR/USD, which fell on concern about European banks after Deutsche Bank AG, Germany’s largest bank, fell to a record low on concern it may have to raise capital.

Nov WTI crude oil (CLX16 +1.48%) this morning is up +67 cents (+1.50%) and Nov gasoline (RBX16 +2.41%) is up +0.0321 (+2.36%). Tuesday’s closes: Nov crude -1.26 (-2.74%), Nov gasoline -0.0115 (-0.83%). Nov crude oil and gasoline on Tuesday closed lower on a stronger dollar and on comments from Iranian Oil Minister Zanganeh who said Iran does not want to freeze its oil production but wants to raise it to 4 million bpd from its current 3.6 million bpd. Crude oil was also undercut by expectations for Wednesday’s weekly EIA crude inventories to rise +3.0 million bbl.