US : Pre Market News – 18 Oct 2016

Dec E-mini S&Ps (ESZ16 +0.55%) are up +0.48% and European stocks are up +1.05% on speculation the U.S. economy is strong enough to handle a slow pace of Fed interest rate increases. The outlook for a slow pace of Fed tightening has weakened the dollar and boosted commodity prices, with Dec COMEX gold (GCZ16 +0.48%) up +0.54% at a 1-week high. The strength in commodities has fueled gains in energy and raw-material producing stocks. Global stocks also received a lift after Chinese stocks rallied to a 5-week high. Asian stocks settled higher: Japan +0.38%, Hong Kong +1.55%, China +1.40%, Taiwan +0.51%, Australia +0.41%, Singapore +0.48%, South Korea +0.70%, India +1.89%. China’s Shanghai Composite rallied to a 5-week high as signs of strong credit growth reduced economic concerns after China Sep aggregate financing, the broadest measure of credit, climbed by the most in 6 months.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.15%) is down -0.22%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.05%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is unchanged.

Dec 10-year T-note prices (ZNZ16 +0.01%) are up +2 ticks.

China Sep new yuan loans rose 1.22 trillion yuan, stronger than expectations of 1.00 trillion yuan. Sep aggregate financing rose 1.72 trillion yuan, stronger than expectations of 1.39 trillion yuan and the most in 6 months.

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) Sep CPI (expected +0.3% m/m and +1.5% y/y, Aug +0.2% m/m and +1.1% y/y) and Sep CPI ex food & energy (expected +0.2% m/m and +2.3% y/y, Aug +0.3% m/m and +2.3% y/y), (2) Oct NAHB housing market index (expected -2 to 63, Sep +6 to 65).

Notable S&P 500 earnings reports today include: Goldman Sachs (consensus $ 3.88), Intel ($ 0.73), BlackRock (4.98), Johnson & Johnson (1.65), Harley-Davidson (0.64), Yahoo (0.14), Kansas City Southern (1.18), UnitedHealth Group (2.08).

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

Equity conferences during the remainder of this week include: 4th Annual Private Wealth Latin America and the Caribbean Forum on Tue.

Netflix (NFLX -1.65%) surged 19% in pre-market trading after it reported Q3 EPS of 12 cents, double expectations of 6 cents and said Q3 net streaming rose 370,000, well above consensus of 304,000.

Intel (INTC -0.43%) was upgraded to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Equalweight’ at Barclays with a price target of $ 45.

Texas Roadhouse (TXRH -1.27%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at Maxim with a price target of $ 48.

Visa (V -0.36%) dropped nearly 2% in after-hours trading after CEP Scharf resigned,

International Business Machines (IBM +0.21%) fell 2% in pre-market trading after it reported Q3 operating gross profit margin of 48%, less than expectations of 50.1%.

Prologis (PLD +0.65%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at Evercore ISI with a 12-month target price of $ 56.

Del Taco Restaurants (TACO +4.21%) climbed nearly 7% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 EPS of 13 cents, better than consensus of 12 cents, and then raised its 2016 revenue forecast to $ 446 million-$ 449 million from a July 20 estimate of $ 439 million-$ 449 million.

Celanese (CE +0.33%) rose over 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of $ 1.67, above consensus of $ 1.60.

Resources Connection (RECN -0.31%) rallied nearly 9% in after-hours trading after it entered into a credit agreement with Bank of America who is providing a $ 120 million secured revolving loan.

Badger Meter (BMI -0.15%) dropped over 6% in after-hours trading after it reportedQ3 net sales of $ 96.3 million, weaker than consensus of $ 105.5 million.

Corrections Corp. of America (CXW +0.91%) climbed over 5% in after-hours trading after it said it sees 2017 normalized FFO/share of $ 2.11 to $ 2.21, above consensus of $ 2.01.

Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR -1.38%) slid 4% in after-hours trading after it announced a public offering of $ 175 million of common stock.

GigPeak (GIG +2.76%) gained over 1% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 5 cents, higher than consensus of 4 cents.

Dec E-mini S&Ps (ESZ16 +0.55%) this morning are up +10.25 points (+0.48%). Monday’s closes: S&P 500 -0.30%, Dow Jones -0.29%, Nasdaq -0.26%. The S&P 500 on Monday closed lower on the unexpected -4.8 point decline in the U.S. Oct Empire manufacturing survey to a 5-month low of -6.8 (weaker than expectations of +3.0 to 1.0) and on weakness in energy producer stocks after the price of crude fell -0.81%. Stocks found some support on news that U.S. Sep manufacturing production rose +0.2% m/m, slightly stronger than expectations of +0.1% m/m.

Dec 10-year T-notes (ZNZ16 +0.01%) this morning are up +2 ticks. Monday’s closes: TYZ6 +8.50, FVZ6 +4.75. Dec 10-year T-notes on Monday closed higher on increased safe-haven demand with the mild sell-off in stocks and on the unexpected decline in the U.S. Oct Empire manufacturing index to a 5-month low.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.15%) this morning is down -0.213 (-0.22%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.0005 (+0.05%). USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is unch. Monday’s closes: Dollar index -0.131 (-0.13%), EUR/USD +0.0028 (-0.76%), USD/JPY -0.29 (-0.28%). The dollar index on Monday fell back from a 7-1/4 month high and closed lower on the unexpected drop in the U.S. Oct Empire manufacturing survey to a 5-month low. The dollar index was also undercut by carry-over weakness from Fed Chair Yellen’s comments last Friday that there are “plausible ways” that running the economy hot for a while could repair some damage to growth caused by the recession, which suggests she is in no hurry to raise interest rates.

Nov WTI crude oil (CLX16 +0.98%) this morning is up +48 cents (+0.96%) and Nov gasoline (RBX16 +0.49%) is up +0.0099 (+0.66%). Monday’s closes: Nov crude -0.41 (-0.81%), Nov gasoline +0.0050 (+0.33%). Nov crude oil and gasoline on Monday settled mixed. Crude oil prices were undercut by comments from Iran’s deputy oil minister for international affairs who said Iran plans to raise its oil production this year from a current 3.89 million bpd to 4.085 million bpd, its output before sanctions were imposed. Crude oil prices were also undercut by comments from the Chairman of the Libya’s National Oil Corp. who said that Libya’s oil production will increase to a 3-year high of 900,000 bpd from the current level of 540,000 bpd. Crude oil found support from a weaker dollar and the increase in the crack spread to a 1-1/2 week high that may boost refiner demand for crude oil.