US : Pre Market News – 20 Apr 2017

Jun E-mini S&Ps (ESM17 +0.28%) this morning are up +0.28% and European stocks are up +0.34% as a rebound in crude oil prices from Wednesday’s 2-week low boosts energy producing stocks. May WTI crude oil (CLK17 +0.89%) is up +0.97% on optimism that OPEC will extend its crude production cuts past June. Oman’s oil minister said that Gulf Arab oil producers have agreement to extend production cuts and Saudi Arabia’s energy minister confirmed the initial deal. Signs of strength in the global economy also supported stock gains after Japan Mar exports jumped +12.0% y/y, the largest increase in 2-years. Asian stocks settled mostly higher: Japan -0.01%, Hong Kong +0.97%, China +0.04%, Taiwan -0.08%, Australia +0.30%, Singapore +0.37%, South Korea +0.46%, India +0.29%.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.11%) is down -0.19% at a 3-week low. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.27% at a 3-week high on short covering ahead of Sunday’s first round of voting in France’s presidential election where the two leading candidates will run off in a winner-take-all contest on May 7. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.18%.

Jun 10-year T-note prices (ZNM17 -0.14%) are down -5 ticks.

ECB Governing Council member Villeroy de Galhau said “our current monetary policy stance remains fully appropriate based on current information” and “should not be adjusted before we see more concrete signs that inflation can be sustained at levels closer to our target.”

The Japan Mar trade balance was in surplus by +614.7 billion yen, wider than expectations of +608.0 billion yen. Mar exports rose +12.0% y/y, stronger than expectations of +6.2% y/y and the biggest increase in 2-years. Mar imports rose +15.8% y/y, stronger than expectations of +10.0% y/y and the largest increase in 3-years.

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) weekly initial unemployment claims (expected +6,000 to 240,000, previous -1,000 to 234,000) and continuing claims (expected -4,000 to 2.024 million, previous -7,000 to 2.028 million), (2) Apr Philadelphia Fed business outlook index (expected -7.0 to 25.8, Mar -10.5 to 32.8), (3) Mar leading indicators (expected +0.2%, Feb +0.6%), (4) Treasury auctions $ 16 billion of 5-year TIPS, and (5) USDA weekly Export Sales.

Notable S&P 500 earnings reports today include: Visa (consensus $ 0.79), Verizon (0.96), Bank of NY Mellon (0.80), Mattel (-0.17), E-Trade (0.28), Robert Half (0.59), DR Horton (0.59), Nucor (1.14), Travelers (2.35), Sherwin-Williams (2.08).

U.S. IPO’s scheduled to price today: Select Energy Services (WTTR).

Equity conferences: none.

CSX Corp (CSX +0.64%) gained over 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 revenue of $ 2.87 billion, above consensus of $ 2.76 billion.

Qualcomm (QCOM -0.11%) rose over 1% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS of $ 1.34, higher than consensus of $ 1.19.

Foot Locker (FL +0.08%) tumbled 5% in pre-market trading after it said it sees Q1 EPS of $ 1.36-$ 1.39, below consensus of $ 1.48.

eBay (EBAY -0.50%) lost 2% in after-hours trading after it said it sees Q2 adjusted EPS continuing operations of 43 cents-45 cents, below consensus of 47 cents.

United Rentals (URI -0.34%) fell over 4% in after-hours trading after the company reported Q1 adjusted EPS of $ 1.63, better than consensus of $ 1.52, but said rental rates “remained under some pressure.”

American Express (AXP -0.32%) gained more than 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 revenue of $ 7.90 billion, higher than consensus of $ 7.79 billion.

Texas Capital Bancshares (TCBI -0.06%) slid over 5% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 EPS of 80 cents, weaker than consensus of 89 cents.

Plexus (PLXS +1.22%) sold-off 10% in after-hours trading after it said it sees Q3 revenue of $ 595 million-$ 625 million, well below consensus of $ 688.3 million.

Kaiser Aluminum (KALU -1.35%) rose nearly 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 adjusted EPS of $ 1.52, well above consensus of %$ 1.12.

Westar Energy (WR +0.88%) tumbled over 9% in after-hours trading after Great Plains Energy’s proposed $ 8.6 billion takeover of Westar was rejected by Kansas utility regulators.

Select Comfort (SCSS +3.36%) surged 13% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 net sales of $ 393.9 million, above consensus of $ 370 million, and then said it sees full-year EPS of $ 1.25-$ 1.50, the midpoint above consensus of $ 1.31.

Datawatch (DWCH -0.70%) rallied over 10% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 revenue of $ 8.8 million, above consensus of $ 8.4 million.

TCP Capital (TCPC -0.06%) lost over 2% in after-hours trading after it announced that it has commenced a public offering of 5 million shares of its common stock.

Whitestone REIT (WSR -1.04%) dropped over 5% in after-hours trading after it announced that it has commenced a public offering of 8.1 million shares of its common stock.

SLM Corp (SLM +0.35%) jumped over 7% in after-hours trading after it said it sees full-year core EPS of 70 cents-72 cents, better than consensus of 69 cents.

Jun E-mini S&Ps (ESM17 +0.28%) this morning are up +6.50 points (+0.28%). Wednesday’s closes: S&P 500 -0.17%, Dow Jones -0.58%, Nasdaq +0.15%. The S&P 500 on Wednesday closed lower on weakness in energy producing stocks after crude oil prices plunged 3.76% to a 2-week low and on hawkish comments from Boston Fed President Rosengren who said the Fed should embark on a “very gradual” reduction in its balance sheet so that it doesn’t have to alter the path of rate hikes. Meanwhile, bank stocks rallied after Morgan Stanley rose 2% after it reported Q1 revenue of $ 9.75 billion, better than consensus of $ 9.29 billion.

Jun 10-year T-notes (ZNM17 -0.14%) this morning are down -5 tiocks. Wednesday’s closes: TYM7 -7.50, FVM7 -2.75. Jun 10-year T-notes on Wednesday closed lower on the Fed’s Beige Book that said the U.S economy continued to grow at a “modest to moderate pace.” T-notes were also undercut by hawkish comments from Boston Fed President Rosengren who said if Fed shrinks its balance sheet gradually, it can still keep to its pace of rate hikes.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.11%) this morning is down -0.185 (-0.19%) at a 3-week low. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.0040 (+0.37%) at a 3-week high and USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.20 (+0.18%). Wednesday’s closes: Dollar index +0.312 (+0.31%), EUR/USD -0.0019 (-0.18%), USD/JPY +0.43 (+0.40%). The dollar index on Wednesday closed higher on the increase in U.S. T-note yields, which is positive for the dollar’s interest rate differentials, and on the Fed’s Beige Book that said the economy continues to grow at a “modest to moderate pace.

May WTI crude oil prices (CLK17 +0.89%) this morning are up +49 cents (+0.97%) and May gasoline (RBK17 +0.91%) is +0.0179 (+1.08%). Wednesday’s closes: May crude -1.97 (-3.76%), May gasoline -0.0520 (-3.04%). May crude oil and gasoline on Wednesday closed lower with May crude and May gasoline at 2-week lows. Crude oil and gasoline prices were undercut by a stronger dollar, the unexpected +1.54 million bbl increase in EIA gasoline stockpiles (more than expectations for a -2.0 million bbl draw) and the +0.2% increase in U.S. crude production in the week of Apr 14 to 9.252 million bpd, a 1-1/2 year high.