Live Index – Fri, 16 May 2014 Premarket

June E-mini S&Ps (ESM14 -0.01%) this morning are down -0.17% and European stocks are down -0.39 % ahead of U.S. data on home building and consumer confidence. Ukraine continued its offensive against separatists in the eastern part of the country, as the U.S. and U.K. warned Russia against undermining Ukraine’s upcoming election on May 25. India’s Sensex Stock Index surged to a record high and the rupee climbed to an 11-month high against the dollar after vote counts showed opposition leader Narenda Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party had the biggest election win in 30 years. Speculation is that Modi is a business friendly candidate who will speed up $ 230 billion of infrastructure projects that are currently stalled in Prime Minister Singh’s coalition government. Asian stocks closed mixed: Japan -1.41%, Hong Kong -0.08%, China +0.09%, Taiwan +0.09%, Australia -0.58%, Singapore -0.30%, South Korea +0.22%, India +0.90%. Commodity prices are mixed. Jun crude oil (CLM14 +0.22%) is up +0.12%. Jun gasoline (RBM14 +0.04%) is up +0.06%. Jun gold (GCM14 -0.01%) is up +0.05%. July copper (HGN14 +0.17%) is up +0.32%. Agriculture and livestock prices are mixed. The dollar index (DXY00 +0.04%) is up +0.10%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.12%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.19%. June T-note prices (ZNM14 -0.02%) are unchanged.

China Q1 nonperforming loans rose by +54 billion yuan ($ 8.7 billion) to 646.1 billion yuan, the most in 5-1/2 years as a slowdown in China’s economy caused defaults to rise for the 10th straight quarter. Bad loans in Q1 accounted for 1.04% of total lending, up from 1.0% in the prior quarter.

Eurozone Apr new car registrations rose for the eighth consecutive month as they climbed +4.6% y/y to 1.089 million units.

The Eurozone Mar trade balance widened to a +17.1 billion euro surplus (nsa) from an upward revised +14.2 billion euro surplus in Feb, a bigger surplus than expectations of +16.0 billion euros.

China Apr foreign direct investment rose +3.4% y/y, better than expectations of +1.0% y/y.

Japan Mar industrial production was revised higher to +0.7% m/m and +7.4% y/y from the originally reported +0.3% m/m and +7.0% y/y.

Today’s early-May U.S. consumer confidence index from the University of Michigan is expected to show a +0.4 point increase to 84.5, adding to the +4.1 point increase to 84.1 seen in April. Today’s April housing starts report is expected to show an increase of +3.6% to 980,000, adding to the +2.8% increase to 946,000 seen in March. None of the Russell 1000 companies report earnings today. Equity conferences today include the Janney Spring Growth Conference.

Torchmark (TMK -0.99%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at BofA/Merrill.

Kansas City Southern (KSU -1.85%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at BofA/Merrill.

Bank of the Ozarks (OZRK +0.02%) was upgraded to ‘Strong Buy’ from ‘Outperform’ at Raymond James.

Prudential (PRU -2.98%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at Deutsche Bank.

Union Pacific (UNP -0.57%) announced a two-for-one stock split and approved an additional $ 150 million in capital expenditures that will bring total 2014 capital spending to $ 4.1 billion.

Verizon (VZ -0.10%) climbed nearly 2% in after-hours trading after Berkshire Hathaway disclosed that it has a 11 million share stake in the company.

Dillard’s (DDS -1.91%) reported Q1 EPS of $ 2.56, higher than consensus of $ 2.41.

Nordstrom (JWN -0.63%) rose over 10% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 EPS of 72 cents, better than consensus of 68 cents.

J.C. Penney (JCP -2.79%) surged over 18% in after-hours trading after it reported a Q1 EPS loss of -$ 1.16, a smaller loss than consensus of -$ 1.25.

Autodesk (ADSK -0.52%) jumped over 5% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 EPS of 32 cents, well above consensus of 21 cents.

Applied Materials (AMAT -1.37%) reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 28 cents, right on consensus.

June E-mini S&Ps (ESM14 -0.01%) this morning are down -3.25 points (-0.17%). The S&P 500 index on Thursday dropped to a 1-week low and closed lower: S&P 500 -0.94%, Dow Jones -1.01%, Nasdaq -0.78%. Bearish factors included (1) the unexpected -0.6% drop in U.S. Apr industrial production, weaker than expectations of unch and the biggest decline in 1-1/2 years, (2) the unexpected -1 point drop in the May NAHB housing market index to a 1-year low of 45, weaker than expectations of +2 to 49, and (3) carry-over weakness from a slide in European stocks after Eurozone Q1 GDP rose +0.2% q/q and +0.9% y/y, weaker than expectations of +0.4% q/q and +1.1% q/q.

Jun 10-year T-notes (ZNM14 -0.02%) this morning are unch. Jun 10-year T-note futures prices on Thursday closed higher for a third day as the 10-year T-note yield fell to a 6-1/2 month low of 2.47%: TYM4 +9.50, FVM4 +4.00. Bullish factors included (1) carry-over support from a rally in German bunds which rallied to a 1-year high after weaker-than-expected Eurozone Q1 GDP bolstered speculation the ECB will boost its stimulus measures next month, and (2) the plunge in the S&P 500 to a 1-week low that spurred safe-haven demand for Treasuries.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.04%) this morning is up +0.082 (+0.10%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.0017 (-0.12%). USD/JPY (^USDJPY) -0.19 (-0.19%). The dollar index on Thursday retreated from a 5-week high and closed lower after U.S. Apr industrial production unexpectedly declined and after USD/JPY fell to a 1-3/4 month low as a slide in stocks boosted safe-haven demand for the yen: Dollar index -0.070 (-0.09%), EUR/USD -0.0005 (-0.04%), USD/JPY -0.313 (-0.31%). EUR/USD fell to a 2-1/2 month low after Eurozone Q1 GDP expanded at a slower-than-expected pace, which bolstered speculation the ECB will boost stimulus measures next month.

Jun WTI crude oil (CLM14 +0.22%) this morning is up +12 cents (+0.12%). Jun gasoline (RBM14 +0.04%) is up +0.0017 (+0.06%). Jun crude and gasoline prices on Thursday closed lower. Bearish factors included (1) the weaker-than-expected Eurozone Q1 GDP, which signals reduced energy consumption and demand, and (2) the unexpected -0.6% decline in U.S. Apr industrial production, the biggest drop in 1-1/2 years. Closes: CLM4 -0.87 (-0.85%). RBM4 -0.0051 (-0.17%).