US : Pre Market News – 23 Mar 2017

Jun E-mini S&Ps (ESM17 +0.21%) this morning are up +0.20% before a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on the passage of the American Health Care Act, the Republican’s plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. A failure by the Republicans to push the healthcare plan through Congress could delay enactment of tax cuts and infrastructure spending plans, which has underpinned the stock market since President Trump’s election in November. A speech from Fed Chair Yellen this morning is also in focus as she speaks at a Fed community development research conference in Washington. Strength in crude oil prices is also giving a boost to energy producing stocks with May WTI crude oil (CLK17 +0.56%) up +0.65%. European stocks are up +0.22% and found support from the monthly bulletin from the ECB that expressed confidence that growth momentum in Eurozone will be robust in Q1. Asian stocks settled higher: Japan +0.23%, Hong Kong +0.03%, China +0.10%, Taiwan +0.08%, Australia +0.41%, Singapore +0.28%, South Korea +0.06%, India +0.56%.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.07%) is up +0.02%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.06%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.09%.

Jun 10-year T-note prices (ZNM17 -0.11%) are down -4 ticks.

In its monthly economic bulletin, the ECB said, “Incoming data, notably survey results, have increased the Governing Council’s confidence that the ongoing economic expansion will continue to form and broaden and that surveys point to robust growth momentum in Q1 of 2017.”

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) Fed Chair Janet Yellen speaks at a Fed community development research conference in Washington D.C., (2) weekly initial unemployment claims (expected -1,000 to 240,000, previous -2,000 to 241,000) and continuing claims (expected +10,000 to 2.040 million, previous -30,000 to 2.030 million), (3) Feb new home sales (expected +1.8% to 565,000, Jan +3.7% to 555,000), (4) Mar Kansas City Fed manufacturing activity (expected unch at 14, Feb +5 to 14), (5) Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari (voter) speaks on U.S. education outcomes and achievement gaps at a Fed community development research conference in Washington D.C., (6) Treasury auctions $ 11 billion 10-year TIPS, (7) Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan (voter) speaks on the economic outlook at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, (8) USDA weekly Export Sales.

Notable Russell 1000 earnings reports today include: Conagra (consensus 0.44), Accenture (1.30), Micron Technology (0.85), GameStop (2.29).

U.S. IPO’s scheduled to price today: Alteryx (AYX), Silver Run Acquisition Corp (SRUNU).

Equity conferences: Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Industrials & EU Autos Conference on Thu.

FireEye (FEYE +0.44%) rallied 4% in pre-market trading after it was upgraded two notches to ‘Buy’ from ‘Sell’ at Goldman Sachs with a price target of $ 15.

Dollar Tree (DLTR +0.74%) was upgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Underperform’ at Credit Suisse.

Gulfport Energy (GPOR -2.01%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at Goldman Sachs.

Dollar General (DG +0.96%) slid nearly 2% in pre-market trading after it was downgraded to ‘Underperform’ from ‘Neutral’ at Credit Suisse.

Southwestern Energy (SWN -1.21%) was rated a new ‘Buy’ at Stifel with a 12-month target price of $ 10.

Morgan Stanley (MS -1.05%) was downgraded to ‘Sell’ from ‘Hold’ at Edward Jones.

PVH Corp (PVH -1.97%) jumped nearly 7% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of $ 1.23, above consensus of $ 1.19.

Five Below (FIVE -1.85%) rallied over 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 EPS of 90 cents, higher than the highest estimate of 89 cents.

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical (RARE +0.82%) dropped nearly 6% in after-hours trading after it said a Phase 2 study of its UX007 in glucose transporter type-1 deficiency syndromein patients with seizures did not meet its primary endpoint.

Herman Miller (MLHR unch) climbed 5% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 39 cents, higher than consensus of 32 cents, and said it sees Q4 EPS of 53 cents to 57 cents, better than consensus of 49 cents.

Bellicum Pharmaceuticals (BLCM +3.31%) dropped 5% in after-hours trading it announced it had commenced an underwritten public offering of 5 million shares of its common stock.

Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment (CHMI -0.91%) lost 2% in after-hours trading after it announced a public offering of 4.5 million shares of its common stock.

Bebe Stores (BEBE +8.12%) jumped 10% in after-hours trading after it said it retained B. Riley to explore strategic options and a real estate adviser to assist with options related to lease holdings.

Jun E-mini S&Ps (ESM17 +0.21%) this morning are up +4.75 points (+0.20%). Wednesday’s closes: S&P 500 +0.19%, Dow Jones -0.03%, Nasdaq +0.66%. The S&P 500 on Wednesday recovered from a 1-1/4 month low and closed higher on some bargain hunting by fund managers after stocks on Tuesday posted their biggest decline since the November U.S. elections. There were also reduced interest rate concerns after the 10-year T-note yield fell to a 3-week low. Stocks were undercut by the -3.7% decline in U.S. Feb existing home sales to 5.48 million, weaker than expectations of -2.5% to a 5-month low of 5.55 million and by concern that the Trump administration’s tax-reform and infrastructure spending plans will be delayed unless the Republican health-care replacement bill gets passed by Congress.

Jun 10-year T-notes (ZNM17 -0.11%) this morning are down -4 ticks. Wednesday’s closes: TYM7 +8.00, FVM7 +5.25. Jun 10-year T-notes on Wednesday rose to a 3-week high and closed higher on the weaker-than-expected U.S. Feb existing homes sales report that fell to a 5-month low. T-notes were also supported by the sell-off in crude oil prices to a 3-3/4 month low, which reduced inflation expectations and sent the 10-year T-note break-even inflation rate down to a 3-month low. T-notes fell back from their best levels after stocks recovered early losses and moved higher.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.07%) this morning is up +0.015 (+0.02%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.0006 (-0.06%) and USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.10 (-0.09%). Wednesday’s closes: Dollar index -0.136 (-0.14%), EUR/USD -0.0014 (-0.13%), USD/JPY -0.55 (-0.49%). The dollar index on Wednesday fell to a 1-1/2 month low and closed lower on the weaker-than-expected U.S. Feb existing home sales report and on the slide in T-note yields to a 3-week low, which weakens the dollar’s interest rate differentials.

May WTI crude oil prices (CLK17 +0.56%) this morning are up +31 cents (+0.65%) and May gasoline (RBK17 -0.12%) is +0.0006 (+0.04%). Wednesday’s closes: May crude -0.20 (-0.41%), May gasoline -0.0045 (-0.28%). May crude oil and gasoline on Wednesday closed lower with May crude at a 3-3/4 month low and May gasoline at a 1-week low. Crude oil prices were undercut by the +4.95 million bbl increase in EIA crude inventories to a record 533.1 million bbl, more than expectations of +3.0 million bbl, and by the +0.2% increase in U.S. crude production in the week ended Mar 17 to 9.129 million bpd, a 13-month high. Crude oil received support from the decline in the dollar index to a 1-1/2 month low.