Live Index – Thu, 29 May 2014 Premarket

June E-mini S&Ps (ESM14 +0.07%) this morning are up +0.08% and European stocks are down -0.09% ahead of the revised U.S. Q1 GDP that is expected to show the economy contracted for the first time in 3 years. European stocks were pulled down by a 6% decline in Kingfisher Plc after Europe’s largest home-improvement company reported Q1 retail profit of 142 million pounds, below consensus of 152 million pounds. Asian stocks closed mixed: Japan +0.07%, Hong Kong -0.30%, China -0.65%, Taiwan -0.14%, Australia -0.14%, Singapore +0.88%, South Korea -0.17%, India -1.31%. Commodity prices are mixed. July crude oil (CLN14 +0.17%)is up +0.26% ahead of weekly EIA inventory data later today. July gasoline (RBN14 +0.38%) is up +0.27%. Jun gold (GCM14 -0.56%) is down -0.48% at a 3-3/4 month low on fund selling. July copper (HGN14 -0.93%) is down -0.72%. Agriculture and livestock prices are mostly higher. The dollar index (DXY00 -0.16%) is down -0.19%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.18% as it rebounds from a 3-1/2 month low on short covering. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.28% at a 1-week low. June T-note prices (ZNM14 +0.02%) are up 1 tick as a global bond market rally helps push the 10-year T-note yield down to a 10-3/4 month low of 2.42%.

Japan Apr retail sales fell -13.7% m/m, a bigger decline than expectations of -11.7% m/m and the largest monthly drop since data began in 2000. On a year-over-year basis, Apr retail sales fell -4.4% y/y, more than expectations of -3.3% y/y.

The UK May Lloyds business barometer dropped -25 points to 41, the lowest in 11 months.

Today’s weekly initial unemployment claims report is expected to show a decline of -8,000 to 318,000, reversing part of last week’s +28,000 jump to 326,000. Meanwhile, today’s continuing claims report is expected to show a small decline of -3,000 to 2.650 million, adding to last week’s decline of -13,000 to 2.653 million. Today’s Q1 GDP is expected to be revised lower to -0.5% (q/q annualized) from the preliminary report of +0.1%. Today’s April pending homes sales report is expected to show an increase of +1.0% m/m, adding to the +3.4% increase seen in March. The Treasury today will sell $ 29 billion of 7-year T-notes, concluding this week’s $ 95 billion T-note coupon package.

There are 10 of the Russell 1000 companies that report earnings today with notable reports including: Tech Data (consensus 0.92), Pall Corp (0.83), Abercrombie, and Guess (-0.07). Equity conferences during the remainder of this week include: Automotive & Transportation Conference on Wed-Thu, Cowen & Company Technology Media & Telecom Conference on Wed-Thu, Sanford C. Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference on Wed-Fri, Citi Global Consumer Conference on Wed-Thu, and KeyBanc Industrial Conference on Thu.

Twitter (TWTR +10.69%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from Hold at Cantor Fitzgerald.

Palo Alto (PANW -0.14%) was upgraded to ‘Strong Buy’ from ‘Outperform’ at Raymond James.

Dollar Tree (DLTR -0.73%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at Sterne Agee.

Dollar General (DG -3.02%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at Sterne Agee.

UBS keeps a ‘Buy’ rating on Apple (AAPL -0.26%) and raises its price target for the stock to $ 700 from $ 625.

Celgene (CELG -0.54%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Overweight’ at JPMorgan Chase.

Biogen (BIIB -0.31%) was upgraded to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Neutral’ at JPMorgan Chase.

Costco (COST +0.32%) reported Q3 EPS of $ 1.07, below consensus of $ 1.09.

Pall Corporation (PLL +0.15%) reported Q3 EPS of 81 cents, weaker than consensus of 83 cents.

Bloomberg reports that American Electric (AEP +0.46%) may decide to sell some of it power plants this year.

Okumus Fund reported a 8.67% passive stake in LifeLock (LOCK +2.52%) .

Apple (AAPL -0.26%) will acquire Beats Music & Beats electronics for $ 3 billion.

Leidos (LDOS +0.77%) was awarded a $ 900 million contract by the U.S. Air Force to provide research, development, testing and evaluation for homeland defense and security technical area tasks.

Amerco (UHAL +0.81%) reported Q4 EPS of $ 2.00, well ahead of consensus of $ 1.69.

EnerSys (ENS +0.82%) reported Q4 adjusted EPS of $ 1.18, better than consensus of $ 1.05.

June E-mini S&Ps (ESM14 +0.07%) this morning are up +1.50 points (+0.08%). The S&P 500 index on Wednesday posted a new record high early but then fell back and closed slightly lower. Bullish factors included (1) Atlanta Fed President Lockhart’s comment that he sees “3.0% economic growth over the next several quarters,” and (2) technical buying after the S&P 500 posted yet another all-time high. Stocks fell back from their best levels on profit-taking and apprehension ahead of Thursday’s expected downward revision in Q1 GDP to -0.5% from +0.1%. Closes: S&P 500 -0.11%, Dow Jones -0.25%, Nasdaq -0.29%.

Jun 10-year T-notes (ZNM14 +0.02%) this morning are up +1 tick. Jun 10-year T-note futures prices on Wednesday closed higher as the 10-year T-note yield fell to a 10-3/4 month low of 2.433%: TYM4 +3.50, FVM4 unch. Bullish factors included (1) carry-over support from a rally in German bunds after weaker-than-expected European economic data fueled speculation the ECB at its meeting next week will announce a package of new easing measures, and (2) strong demand for the Treasury’s $ 35 billion 5-year T-note auction that had a 2.73 bid-to-cover ratio, higher than the 12-auction average of 2.65.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.16%) this morning is down -0.155 (-0.19%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.0025 (+0.18%). USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.29 (-0.28%) at a 1-week low. The dollar index on Wednesday rose to a 1-3/4 month high and closed higher: Dollar Index +0.219 (+0.27%), EUR/USD -0.00437 (-0.32%), USD/JPY -0.135 (-0.13%). The main bullish factor for the dollar was weakness in EUR/USD which fell to a 3-1/2 month low after weaker-than-expected data on German employment and Eurozone money supply fueled expectations for the ECB to boost stimulus measures at its meeting next week.

July WTI crude oil (CLN14 +0.17%) this morning is up +27 cents (+0.26%). July gasoline (RBN14 +0.38%) is up +0.0080 (+0.27%). July crude and gasoline prices on Wednesday settled mixed. Crude prices fell after the dollar index rose to a 1-3/4 month high, while gasoline gained on concern over reduced output after tornado damage was reported at Marathon’s 522,000 bpd refinery in Garyville, LA. Closes: CLN4 -1.39 (-1.34%) RBN4 +0.0074 (+0.25%).