US : Pre Market News – 28 Apr 2017

Jun E-mini S&Ps (ESM17 +0.10%) this morning are up +0.07% and European stocks are up +0.11%. Strength in company quarterly earnings results are giving the overall market a boost with Amazon.com up over 3% and Alphabet up 4% in pre-market trading. Gains were limited on lingering geopolitical concerns after President Trump warned that a “major conflict” with North Korea was possible if diplomatic solutions fail. Negatives for European stocks include weaker-than-expected UK Q1 GDP and rising inflation pressures after the Eurozone Apr core CPI rose a more-than-expected +1.2% y/y, the biggest increase in 3-3/4 years. Asian stocks settled mixed: Japan -0.29%, Hong Kong -0.34%, China +0.08%, Taiwan +0.12%, Australia +0.04%, Singapore +0.13%, South Korea -0.05%, India -0.37%. Asian market settled mixed as uncertainty surrounding the Trump administration’s trade plans and North Korean concerns limited the upside in stock prices.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.31%) is down -0.34%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.54%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.14%.

Jun 10-year T-note prices (ZNM17 -0.02%) are down -2.5 ticks.

The Bank of Russia cut its key benchmark rate by 50 bp to 9.25%, a bigger cut than expectations of a 25 bp.

Eurozone Apr CPI rose +1.9% y/y, stronger than expectations of +1.8% y/y. Apr core CPI rose +1.2% y/y, stronger than expectations of +1.0% y/y and the biggest increase n 3-3/4 years.

Japan Mar industrial production fell -2.1% m/m, weaker than expectations of -0.8% m/m.

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) Q1 GDP (expected +1.0% after Q4 +2.1%), (2) Q1 employment cost index (expected +0.6%), (3) Apr Chicago PMI (expected -1.2 to 56.4, Mar +0.3 to 57.7), (4) final-Apr University of Michigan U.S. consumer sentiment index (expected unch at 98.0, prelim-Apr +1.1 to 98.0), and (5) Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker (voter) speaks at an event in Washington on “How STEM Can Get You Anywhere.”

Notable S&P 500 earnings reports today include: General Motors (consensus $ 1.48), Exxon Mobil (0.85), Chevron (0.86), Colgate-Palmolive (0.66), VF Corp (0.55), Ventas (1.02), Royal Carribean Cruises (0.92), Weyerhaeuser (0.19), Cabot Oil & Gas (0.16).

U.S. IPO’s scheduled to price today: Cloudera (CLDR).

Equity conferences: Burkenroad Reports l Investment Conference on Fri.

Amazon.com (AMZN +1.00%) rose nearly 4% in pre-market trading after it reported Q1 EPS of $ 1.48, well above consensus of $ 1.08.

Microsoft (MSFT +0.65%) fell over 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 capital expenditures of $ 1.70 billion, below consensus of $ 2.27 billion.

Alphabet (GOOGL +0.26%) rallied 4% in pre-market trading after it reported Q1 EPS of $ 7.73, better than consensus of $ 7.42.

Expedia (EXPE +0.33%) lost over 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 5 cents, weaker than consensus of 6 cents.

Aflac (AFL +0.33%) slipped over 1% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 revenue of $ 5.31 billion, below consensus of $ 5.33 billion.

Starbucks (SBUX -0.42%) dropped over 4% in pre-market trading after it reported Q1 comparable sales rose 3%, less than consensus of 3.6%.

Athenahealth (ATHN +1.34%) tumbled 15% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 32 cents, below consensus of 46 cents, and then said it sees full-year revenue of $ 1.21 billion-$ 1.25 billion, below consensus of $ 1.29 billion.

Intel (INTC +1.35%) fell over 3% in pre-market trading after it reported Q1 revenue of $ 14.796 billion, below consensus of $ 14.812 billion.

Baidu (BIDU +0.64%) dropped 5% in after-hours trading after it said it sees Q2 revenue of $ 2.97 billion-$ 3.05 billion, the midpoint below consensus of $ 3.04 billion.

Align Technology (ALGN +0.29%) surged 12% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 net revenue of $ 310.3 million, above consensus of $ 297.3 million, and then said it sees Q2 net revenue of $ 340 million-$ 345 million, better than consensus of $ 324.2 million.

Cerner (CERN +0.89%) rose over 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 revenue of $ 1.26 billion, better than consensus of $ 1.23 billion.

Ellie Mae (ELLI +1.42%) dropped 9% in after-hours trading after it said it sees full-year adjusted EPS of $ 1.79-$ 1.92, the midpoint below consensus of $ 1.88.

Jun E-mini S&Ps (ESM17 +0.10%) this morning are up +1.75 points (+0.07%). Thursday’s closes: S&P 500 +0.06%, Dow Jones +0.03%, Nasdaq +0.54%. The S&P 500 on Thursday closed higher on reduced global trade concerns after President Trump said he won’t terminate NAFTA “at this time.” Stocks were undercut by the +14,000 increase in U.S. weekly initial unemployment claims (more than expectations of +1,000 to 245,000) and by the weaker-than-expected U.S. Mar durable goods orders of +0.7% and -0.2% ex-transportation (vs expectations of +1.3% and +0.4% ex transportation). There was also weakness in energy producing stocks after Jun WTI crude oil fell to a 1-month low.

Jun 10-year T-notes (ZNM17 -0.02%) this morning are down -2.5 ticks. Thursday’s closes: TYM7 +2.50, FVM7 +2.25. Jun 10-year T-notes on Thursday closed higher on the larger-than-expected increase in U.S. weekly jobless claims (+14,000 vs expectations of +1,000) and the weaker than expected U.S. Mar durable goods orders report. There was also carry-over support from a rally in German bunds after ECB President Draghi said that underlying inflation pressures remain subdued.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.31%) this morning is down -0.332 (-0.34%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.0059 (+0.54%) and USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.16 (+0.14%). Thursday’s closes: Dollar index +0.101 (+0.10%), EUR/USD -0.0031 (-0.28%), USD/JPY +0.20 (+0.18%). The dollar index on Thursday closed higher on weakness in EUR/USD after the ECB left its guidance intact and ECB President Draghi said “underlying inflation pressures continue to remain subdued and have yet to show a convincing upward trend.” The yen was undercut by signs that the BOJ will maintain its QE program after the BOJ lowered its inflation projection for the fiscal year that starts this month to 1.4% from 1.5% and BOJ Governor Kuroda said “it’s premature” to discuss an exit from its easing policies.

Jun WTI crude oil prices (CLM17 +0.96%) this morning are up +42 cents (+0.86%) and Jun gasoline (RBM17 +1.69%) is +0.0259 (+1.67%). Thursday’s closes: Jun crude -0.65 (-1.31%), Jun gasoline -0.0401 (-2.52%). Jun crude oil and gasoline on Thursday closed lower with Jun crude at a 1-month low and Jun gasoline at a 2-month low. Crude oil prices were undercut by a stronger dollar and the reopening of Libya’s Sharara oil field, the country’s biggest, which had been shut since early-Apr. There was also carry-over bearishness from Wednesday’s EIA report showing a +0.1% increase in U.S. crude production in the week of Apr 21 to a 1-1/2 year high of 9.265 million bpd.