Live Index – Thu, 08 May 2014 Premarket

June E-mini S&Ps (ESM14 +0.07%) this morning are up +0.03% and European stocks are up +0.54% after China Apr exports unexpectedly rose, a sign of improvement in global demand. Gains in European stocks were muted after German Mar industrial production unexpectedly fell and ahead of the outcome of today’s ECB policy meeting. At the conclusion of its policy meeting today, the BOE as expected maintained its benchmark rate at 0.50% and kept its asset purchase target at 375 billion pounds. Asian stocks closed mostly higher: Japan +0.93%, Hong Kong +0.42%, China -0.09%, Taiwan +0.42%, Australia +0.75%, Singapore +0.35%, South Korea +0.59%, India +0.09%. Asian markets found support on stronger-than-expected Chinese Apr exports along with dovish comments from Fed Chair Yellen who said the Fed will continue to support the U.S. economy. Commodity prices are mixed. Jun crude oil (CLM14 -0.12%) is down -0.40%. Jun gasoline (RBM14 +0.14%) is up +0.03%. Jun gold (GCM14 +0.34%) is up +0.26%. July copper (HGN14 +0.03%) is down -0.05%. Agriculture and livestock prices are mixed. The dollar index (DXY00 -0.13%) is down -0.16%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.24%, just below Tuesday’s 1-3/4 month high, amid speculation the ECB will refrain from announcing additional stimulus measures at today’s policy meeting. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.12%. June T-note prices (ZNM14 -0.06%) are down -2 ticks.

The China Apr trade balance widened to a +$ 18.46 billion surplus, more than expectations of a +$ 16.70 billion surplus. Apr exports unexpectedly increased by +0.9% y/y, better than expectations of -3.0% y/y, and Apr imports rose by +0.8% y/y, also better than expectations of -2.1% y/y.

German Mar industrial production unexpectedly fell -0.5% m/m, weaker than expectations of +0.2% m/m. On an annual basis, Mar industrial production climbed +3.0% y/y, less than expectations of +4.4% y/y.

UK Apr Halifax house prices fell -0.2% m/m and rose +8.5% y/y, weaker than expectations of +0.9% m/m and +9.1% y/y.

Today’s weekly initial unemployment claims report is expected to show a -19,000 decline to 325,000, more than reversing last week’s increase of +14,000 to 344,000. Meanwhile, continuing claims are expected to fall -11,000 to 2.760 million, reversing part of last week’s increase of +97,000 to 2.771 million. The Treasury today will sell $ 16 billion of 30-year T-bonds, concluding this week’s $ 69 billion quarterly refunding operation.

There are 17 of the S&P 500 companies that report earnings today. Notable reports include Computer Sciences (consensus $ 1.04), Regeneron (2.27), ICE Group (2.61), Priceline (6.84), Apache (1.60), Symantec (0.42). Equity conferences during the remainder of this week include: Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Transportation Conference on Wed-Thu, Wells Fargo Industrial & Construction Conference on Wed-Thu, Jefferies Global Technology, Media & Telecom Conference on Tue-Thu, and Deutsche Bank Healthcare Conference on Wed-Fri.

Priceline Group (PCLN -3.13%) reported Q1 EPS of $ 7.81, well above consensus of $ 6.84.

The WSJ reported that DirecTV (DTV +7.96%) has engaged Goldman Sachs (GS +0.63%) to evaluate a potential deal with AT&T (T +0.76%) .

Kindred Healthcare (KND +0.80%) reported Q1 EPS ex-items of 32 cents, below consensus of 33 cents.

JP Morgan Chase reported a 10.2% passive stake in Cross Country Healthcare (CCRN -5.96%) .

Transocean (RIG +0.63%) climbed more than 3% in pre-market trading after it reported Q1 adjusted EPS of $ 1.43, well above consensus of $ 1.02.

CF Industries (CF +0.55%) reported Q1 adjusted EPS of $ 4.51, below consensus of $ 4.54.

Avis Budget (CAR +0.28%) reported Q1 EPS ex-items of 16 cents, double consensus of 8 cents.

CenturyLink (CTL +0.55%) reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 66 cents, better than consensus of 61 cents.

Caesar’s (CZR +14.12%) reported a Q1 EPS loss of -$ 2.82, a much wider loss than consensus of -$ 1.15.

Prudential (PRU +0.99%) reported Q1 EPS of $ 2.40, higher than consensus of $ 2.26.

McDermott (MDR unch) reported a Q1 EPS loss of -21 cents, a wider loss than consensus of -12 cents.

Tesla (TSLA -2.86%) dropped over 5% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 EPS of 12 cents, better than consensus of 10 cents, but then said battery cell supply will constrain Q2 production.

21st Century Fox (FOXA -0.89%) reportED Q3 adjusted EPS OF 47 cents, stronger than consensus of 35 cents.

Roundy’s (RNDY -2.86%) reported Q1 EPS of 1 cents, weaker than consensus of 3 cents.

Unum Group (UNM +1.57%) reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 87 cents, better than consensus of 85 cents.

Keurig Green Mountain (GMCR -3.21%) jumped over 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS of $ 1.08, higher than consensus of 94 cents.

June E-mini S&Ps (ESM14 +0.07%) this morning are up +0.50 of a point (+0.03%). The S&P 500 index on Wednesday recovered from a 1-week low and closed higher: S&P 500 +0.56%, Dow Jones +0.72%, Nasdaq -0.28%. Bullish factors included (1) reduced interest rate concerns after Fed Chair Yellen said that the Fed must continue to spur growth as employment and inflation indicators remain below the Fed’s goals, and (2) upbeat earnings results with 75% of the 422 S&P 500 companies that have already reported Q1 earnings beating estimates. A negative factor was the -1.7% drop in U.S. Q2 non-farm productivity, the biggest decline in a year and weaker than expectations of -1.2%.

Jun 10-year T-notes (ZNM14 -0.06%) this morning are down -2 ticks. Jun 10-year T-note futures prices on Wednesday closed higher on comments from Fed Chair Yellen who said a “high degree” of accommodation remains warranted: TYM4 +7.50, FVM4 +6.00. T-note prices also found support from strong foreign demand for the Treasury’s $ 24 billion 10-year T-note auction as indirect bidders, an investor class that includes foreign central banks, bought 49.3% of the notes at auction, higher than the 12-auction average of 43.9%.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.13%) this morning is down -0.124 (-0.16%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.0033 (+0.24%). USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.12 (-0.12%). The dollar index on Wednesday closed higher. Dollar index +0.109 (+0.14%), EUR/USD -0.0017 (-0.12%), USD/JPY +0.218 (+0.21%). The main bullish factor for the dollar was weakness in EUR/USD on long liquidation ahead of Thursday’s ECB meeting and after German Mar factory orders unexpectedly declined. Dollar strength was limited after Fed Chair Yellen said that a “high degree” of accommodation remains warranted.

Jun WTI crude oil (CLM14 -0.12%) this morning is down -40 cents (-0.40%). Jun gasoline (RBM14 +0.14%) is up +0.0008 (+0.03%). Jun crude and gasoline prices on Wednesday closed higher with Jun crude at a 1-week high. Bullish factors included (1) the -1.395 million bbl decline in crude inventories at Cushing, OK, the delivery point of WTI futures, to a 5-1/3 yr low of 24.03 million bbl, and (2) the unexpected -1.781 mln bbl decline in weekly EIA crude inventories versus expectations for a +1.15 million bbl build. Closes: CLM4 +1.27 (+1.28%). RBM4 +0.0324 (+1.12%).