US : Pre Market News – 28 Mar 2017

Jun E-mini S&Ps (ESM17 -0.01%) this morning are up +0.05% and European stocks are up +0.21% as a rally in crude oil pushes energy producing stocks higher. May WTI crude oil (CLK17 +0.82%) is up +0.69% on global supply concerns after Libya said its crude output dropped to 560,000 bpd from 700,000 bpd when it shut down its pipeline from the Sharara field, its biggest pipeline. Asian stocks settled mostly higher: Japan +1.14%, Hong Kong +0.63%, China -0.43%, Taiwan unchanged, Australia +1.30%, Singapore +0.99%, South Korea +0.32%, India +0.59%. Japanese stocks found support as exporter companies rallied after USD/JPY stabilized above Monday’s 4-1/4 month low.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.11%) is up +0.10%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.11% after ECB Executive Board member Praet said that it’s too soon to start discussing when to withdraw stimulus. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.11%.

Jun 10-year T-note prices (ZNM17 +0.01%) are up +1 tick.

ECB Executive Board member Praet said that it’s too soon to start discussing when to withdraw stimulus, and that the exit will happen when Eurozone inflation is sustainable. He said the ECB’s current guidance that it won’t raise interest rates until well after the end of QE, similar to the strategy used by the Fed, has a “strong logic.”

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) wholesale inventories (expected +0.2%, Jan -0.2% m/m), (2) Jan S&P CoreLogic composite-20 home price index (expected +0.7% m/m and +5.6% y/y, Dec +0.93% m/m and +5.58% y/y), (3) Mar Conference Board U.S. consumer confidence index (expected -0.8 to 114.0, Feb +3.2 to 114.8), (4) Mar Richmond Fed manufacturing index (expected -2 to 15, Feb +5 to 17), (5) Kansas City Fed President Esther George (non-voter) gives keynote speech at an event hosted by the Kansas City Fed titled “Banking and the Economy: A Forum for Women in Banking,” (6) Fed Chair Janet Yellen speaks at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition Annual Conference on “Addressing Workforce Development Challenges in Low-Income Communities,” (7) Treasury auctions $ 34 billion of 5-year T-notes, (8) Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan (voter) holds a moderated Q&A session with the Dallas Committee on Foreign Relations, and (9) Fed Governor Jerome Powell speaks at the West Virginia University College of Business and Economics on “America’s Central Bank: The History and Structure of the Federal Reserve.”

Notable Russell 1000 earnings reports today include: Darden Restaurants (consensus $ 1.27), Carnival (0.35), McCormick (0.74), FactSet Research (1.80).

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

Equity conferences: Scotia Howard Weil Energy Conference on Mon-Tue, Barclays Materials ROC Stars Conference on Tue, Jefferies Animal Health Summit on Thu.

Darden Restaurants (DRI -1.47%) rallied nearly 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS continuing operations of $ 1.32, above consensus of $ 1.27.

Red Hat (RHT -0.92%) climbed nearly 5% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 revenue of $ 629 million, higher than consensus of $ 618.7 million.

SYNNEX (SNX +1.18%) rose 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 revenue of $ 3.52 billion, above consensus of $ 3.48 billion.

Golden Ocean Group Ltd (GOGL -2.62%) was upgraded to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Underweight’ at Morgan Stanley with a price target of $ 10.

Power Solutions International (PSIX +1.11%) soared over 40% in after-hours trading when it said China’s Weichai Power’s Weichai American unit will invest $ 60 million in the company through a combination of newly issued common shares and preferred share that will lift its stake in the company to 40.7%, which could climb to 51% if warrants are exercised.

TESARO (TSRO -2.04%) jumped nearly 6% in after-hours trading after its Niraparib treatment for Ovarian Cancer was approved by the U.S. FDA.

STORE Capital (STOR -1.05%) slipped 3% in after-hours trading after it announced that it had commenced an underwritten public offering of 7.6 million shares of its common stock.

Deck Outdoor Corp. (DECK +0.41%) gained nearly 3% in after-hours trading after holder Red Mountain, the tenth largest shareholder, said the company should explore a sale.

Editas Medicine (EDIT +7.42%) rose over 2% in after-hours trading after it was initiated a new ‘Buy’ at Chardan Capital Markets with a price target of $ 65.

Selecta Biosciences (SELB -1.00%) surged 16% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 revenue of $ 2.9 million versus $ 2.1 million y/y and said it sees sufficient cash to fund operations into mid-2018.

Hi-Crush Partners LP (HCLP +0.33%) rose 2% in after-hours trading after it was initiated a new ‘Buy’ at Guggenheim with a price target of $ 31.

Evolent Health (EVH +1.92%) dropped nearly 5% in after-hours trading after it launched a secondary public offering of 7.5 million Class A common shares.

Fairmount Santrol Holdings (FMSA -1.17%) climbed 3% in after-hours trading after it was initiated a ‘Buy’ at Guggenheim with a price target of $ 12.

Jun E-mini S&Ps (ESM17 -0.01%) this morning are up +1.25 points (+0.05%). Monday’s closes: S&P 500 -0.10%, Dow Jones -0.22%, Nasdaq +0.19%. The S&P 500 on Monday tumbled to a 1-1/2 month low and closed lower on long-liquidation pressure after last Friday’s failure of the House Republican’s health care plan, which raised questions about the rest of the Republican agenda. There was also weakness in energy-producing stocks as crude oil prices moved lower. Hospital stocks rallied after legislators on Friday failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Jun 10-year T-notes (ZNM17 +0.01%) this morning are up +1 tick. Monday’s closes: TYM7 +4.50, FVM7 +2.75. Jun 10-year T-notes on Monday rallied to a 1-month high and closed higher on speculation that economic growth may be sub-par if the Trump administration is unable to pass its pro-growth economic policies. T-notes also saw some safe-haven demand on the early slump in stocks.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.11%) this morning is up +0.103 (+0.10%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.0012 (-0.11%) and USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.12 (-0.11%). Monday’s closes: Dollar index -0.461 (-0.46%), EUR/USD +0.0066 (+0.61%), USD/JPY -0.68 (-0.61%). The dollar index on Monday sank to a 4-1/2 month low and closed lower on technical selling on concern that the Trump administration may have difficulty enacting its pro-growth economic policies after Friday’s failure to pass the health-care bill. There was also strength in EUR/USD which rallied to a 4-1/2 month high after the German Mar IFO business climate index rose +1.2 to a 5-1/2 year high of 112.3 and after after German Chancellor Merkel’s party did well in state elections on Sunday. The yen was boosted by safe-haven demand with USD/JPY falling to a 4-1/4 month low.

May WTI crude oil (CLK17 +0.82%) prices this morning are up +33 cents (+0.69%) and May gasoline (RBK17 +0.68%) is +0.0085 (+0.52%). Monday’s closes: May crude -0.24 (-0.50%), May gasoline +0.0109 (+0.67%). May crude oil and gasoline on Monday settled mixed. Crude oil prices were undercut by comments from Russian Energy Minister Novak who said Russia needs more time to assess the market before it can agree to extend its crude production cuts. There was also negative carry-over from Friday’s data from Baker Hughes that U.S. active oil rigs rose +21 in the week ended Mar 24 to 652, the most in 1-1/2 years. Crude oil prices were supported by the plunge in the dollar index to a 4-1/2 month low, and by the increase in the crack spread to a 4-3/4 month high, which may boost refinery demand for crude to refine into gasoline.