US : Pre Market News – 24 Jan 2017

Mar E-mini S&Ps (ESH17 -0.01%) are little changed, down -0.02%, while European stocks are up +0.11% on reduced Brexit concerns after the UK’s highest court ruled that Prime Minister May must seek an act of Parliament to start the 2-year countdown to Brexit, which may give British lawmakers a chance to soften the government’s plan. European stocks also received a boost after the Eurozone Jan Markit manufacturing PMI unexpectedly expanded. Mar WTI crude oil (CLH17 +0.19%) is up +0.17% on signs that OPEC members are adhering to their agreed upon production cuts after Iraq, OPEC’s second-biggest producer, said it has already reduced crude output by 180,000 bpd and will cut its output by another 30,000 bpd by the end of the month. Asian stocks settled mostly higher: Japan -0.55%, Hong Kong +0.22%, China +0.18%, Taiwan +0.25%, Australia +0.70%, Singapore +0.54%, South Korea +0.07%, India +0.95%. Chinese shares closed higher and Japanese stocks fell after President Trump on Monday signed an executive order that withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership accord. Losses in Japanese stocks were contained after the Japan Jan Nikkei manufacturing PMI expanded at the fastest pace in 2-3/4 years.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.15%) is up +0.15%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.22%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.54%.

Mar 10-year T-note prices (ZNH17 -0.19%) are down -6.5 ticks.

The Eurozone Jan Markit manufacturing PMI unexpectedly rose +0.2 to 55.1, stronger than expectations of -0.1 to 54.8 and the fastest pace of expansion since the data series began in 2014.

The Japan Jan Nikkei manufacturing PMI rose +0.4 to 52.8, the fastest pace of expansion in 2-3/4 years.

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) Jan Markit manufacturing PMI (expected +0.2 to 54.5, Dec +0.2 to 54.3), (2) Dec existing home sales (expected -2.0% to 5.50 million, Nov +0.7% to 5.61 million), (3) Jan Richmond Fed manufacturing index (expected -2 to 6, Dec +4 to 8), (4) Treasury auctions $ 26 billion of 2-year T-notes, (5) USDA Dec Cold Storage.

Notable S&P 500 earnings reports today include: Capital One (consensus $ 1.62), Corning (0.44), EI du Pont (0.42), Johnson & Johnson (1.56), Verizon (0.89), Lockheed Martin (3.06), 3M (1.87), Texas Instruments (0.81), Discover Financial (1.38), Navient (0.43).

U.S. IPO’s scheduled to price today: Meridian Waste Solutions (MRDN).

Equity conferences: SPE Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Conference on Tue, Hart Energy DUG Marcellus Utica Midstream Conference on Wed-Thu.

Verizon Communications (VZ -0.59%) slid over 2% in pre-market trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 86 cents, weaker than consensus of 89 cents.

Alibaba (BABA +2.45%) jumped almost 5% in pre-market trading after it reported Q3 revenue of 53.2 billion yuan, stronger than consensus of 50.1 billion yuan, and forecast fiscal 2017 revenue will be up 53%, higher than an earlier projection of up 48%.

Humana (HUM +2.24%) was downgraded to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ at Stifel.

J&J Snack Foods (JJSF -0.97%) reported Q1 EPS of 72 cents, stronger than consensus of 63 cents.

HealthEquity (HQY +0.78%) was rated a new ‘Overweight’ at Keybanc Capital Markets with a 12-month target price of $ 60.

U.S. Foods Holding Company (USFD -1.11%) lost nearly 1% in after-hours trading after it launched a 30 million share secondary offering of common stock.

The Soros Fund increased its passive stake in Sigma Designs (SIGM -0.79%) to 5.3% from 3.11%.

Enterprise Financial Services (EFSC -0.69%) reported Q4 core EPS of 59 cents, below consensus of 61 cents.

Brown & Brown (BRO -0.91%) reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 42 cents, above consensus of 41 cents.

Yahoo! (YHOO +0.83%) gained almost 1% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 25 cents, higher than consensus of 21 cents.

Ocular Therapeutix (OCUL -4.79%) slid over 5% in after-hours trading after it announced a $ 25 million public offering of common stock.

Mercury Systems (MRCY +0.96%) jumped 8% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 30 cents, better than consensus of 26 cents, and said is it sees Q3 adjusted EPS of 29 cents-32 cents, above consensus of 29 cents.

Fortina Silver Mines (FSM +2.70%) dropped 6% in after-hours trading after it issued 10.32 million shares at $ 6.30 per common share, an 8.7% discount to Monday’s closing price.

BioAmber (BIOA -11.15%) slumped 11% in after-hours trading after it announces a $ 10 million underwritten public offering of common stock.

Cascadian Therapeutics (CASC -0.54%) fell 4% in after-hours trading after it announced that it intends to offer and sell shares of its common stock and Series E convertible preferred stock in concurrent but separate underwritten public offerings, although no size was given.

Mar E-mini S&Ps (ESH17 -0.01%) this morning are down -0.50 of a point (-0.02%). Monday’s closes: S&P 500 -0.27%, Dow Jones -0.14%, Nasdaq +0.05%. The S&P 500 on Monday dropped to a 1-week low and closed lower on concern about U.S. trade policies that may constrict global growth after President Trump promised a “very major” border tax and signed an executive order to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. There was also weakness in energy producer stocks after crude oil prices fell -0.73%.

Mar 10-year T-notes (ZNH17 -0.19%) this morning are down -6.5 ticks. Monday’s closes: TYH7 +19.00, FVH7 +11.25. Mar 10-year T-notes on Monday closed higher on the slide in stocks and on reduced inflation expectations after the -0.73% decline in crude oil prices.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.15%) this morning is up +0.15 (+0.15%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.0024 (-0.22%). USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.61 (+0.54%). Monday’s closes: Dollar index -0.742 (-0.74%), EUR/USD +0.0062 (+0.58%), USD/JPY -1.91 (-1.67%). The dollar index on Monday fell to a 1-1/2 month low and closed lower on concern about the Trump administration’s trade policies. There was also strength in EUR/USD which rose to a 1-1/2 month high on signs of strength in Germany’s economy after the Bundesbank said Germany’s economic growth “clearly gained pace” in Q4 as exports rose “strongly” and as “very strong” factory orders boosted industrial production.

Mar WTI crude oil prices (CLH17 +0.19%) this morning are up +9 cents (+0.17%) and Mar gasoline (RBH17 +0.63%) is +0.0077 (+0.48%). Monday’s closes: Mar crude -0.39 (-0.73%), Mar gasoline -0.0014 (-0.09%). Mar crude oil and Mar gasoline on Monday closed lower on concern about increased U.S. crude output after last Friday’s data from Baker Hughes showed active U.S. oil rigs increased sharply by 29 rigs to a 13-1/2 month high of 552 rigs. Oil prices were also undercut by President Trump’s push for higher U.S. crude oil production when he said “he was committed to achieving energy independence from the OPEC cartel and any nations hostile to our interests” by exploiting “vast untapped domestic energy reserves.” Crude oil prices found some support from the decline in the dollar index to a 1-1/2 month low.