Live Index – Thu, 05 Jun 2014 Premarket

June E-mini S&Ps (ESM14 +0.08%) this morning are down -0.04% as prices consolidate gains following Wednesday’s rally to a record high. European stocks are up +0.16% on stronger-than-expected economic data on Eurozone Apr retail sales and German Apr factory orders. The markets also await the ECB interest rate announcement and the press conference by ECB President Draghi. The ECB is expected to cut the 2-week refinancing rate by -15 bp to 0.10% and cut the overnight ECB deposit rate by -10 bp to a negative -0.10%. The ECB will also update its forecasts on inflation and economic growth. As expected, the BOE maintained its benchmark rate at 0.50% and held the asset purchase target at 375 billion pounds following its policy meeting. Asian stocks closed mixed: Japan +0.08%, Hong Kong -0.18%, China +1.05%, Taiwan +0.23%, Australia -0.15%, Singapore -0.02%, South Korea -0.63%, India +0.86%. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Index climbed to its best level in 2 months as exporter stocks rallied after the yen Wednesday slid to a 1-month low against the dollar, which bolsters the earnings prospects of exporters. Commodity prices are mixed. July crude oil (CLN14 -0.31%) is down -0.29%. July gasoline (RBN14 -0.11%) is down -0.09%. Aug gold (GCQ14 +0.15%) is up +0.06%. July copper (HGN14 -0.15%) is down -0.10%. Agriculture and livestock prices are mixed. The dollar index (DXY00 -0.08%) is down -0.08%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.08%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.25%. Sep T-note prices (ZNU14 +0.24%) are up +7 ticks.

Eurozone Apr retail sales unexpectedly rose +0.4% m/m, better than expectation of unch m/m and rose +2.4% y/y, stronger than expectations of +1.2% y/y and the largest annual increase in 7 years.

German Apr factory orders rose +3.1% m/m and +6.3% y/y, stronger than expectations of +1.4% m/m and +4.6% y/y.

UK May Halifax house prices jumped +3.9% m/m, over five times expectations of +0.7% m/m and the biggest monthly gain in 1-1/2 years. Prices rose +8.7% 3-months y/y, better than expectations of +7.4% 3-months y/y.

Today’s weekly initial unemployment claims report is expected to show an increase of +10,000 to 310,000, reversing part of last week’s drop of -27,000 to 300,000. Meanwhile, today’s continuing claims report is expected to show a decline of -6,000 to 2.625 million, adding to last week’s -17,000 decline to 2.631 million. There are 6 of the Russell 1000 companies that report earnings today: Cooper Companies (consensus $ 1.60), JM Smucker (1.17), Joy Global (0.71), Navistar (-1.27), Thor Industries (1.07), and VeriFone (0.33).

Equity conferences this week include: Jefferies Global Health Care Conference on Mon-Thu, National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts REITWeek Investor Forum on Tue-Thu, Deutsche Bank Global Industrials and Basic Materials Conference on Wed-Thu, Credit Suisse Engineering & Construction Conference on Thu, UBS Aerospace & Defense Conference on Thu.

JM Smucker (SJM -0.11%) reported Q4 EPS of $ 1.21, better than consensus of $ 1.17.

Verint Systems (VRNT +0.58%) was upgraded to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Neutral’ at Credit Suisse.

Clovis (CLVS +0.44%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at Stifel.

Citigroup keeps a ‘Buy’ rating on Canadian Pacific (CP +1.64%) and raises its price target on the stock to $ 205 from $ 190.

Joy Global (JOY -0.28%) reported Q2 EPS of 76 cents, higher than consensus of 71 cents.

T-Mobile (TMUS +0.23%) rose over 2% and Sprint (S -1.05%) climbed over 4% in after-hours trading after Bloomberg reported that the companies were close to an agreement on the price, capital structure and termination fee for the takeover of T-Mobile.

Greif (GEF -1.00%) reported Q2 EPS of 61 cents, weaker than consensus of 67 cents, and then lowered guidance on fiscal 2014 EPS to $ 2.48-$ 2.80 from $ 2.60-$ 3.15, well below consensus of $ 2.99.

Whole Foods (WFM +1.78%) was initiated with an ‘Outperform’ at Imperial Capital with a price target of $ 48.

Agilent (A +0.40%) adjusted its previously reported Q2 net income downward to $ 139 million, or 41 cents per share, a change from the second-quarter net income of $ 150 million, or 45 cents per share, previously announced May 14.

PVH Corporation (PVH +0.27%) dropped over 5% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 EPS of $ 1.47, below consensus of $ 1.49, and then lowered guidance on fiscal 2014 EPS to $ 7.30 -$ 7.40 from $ 7.40 – $ 7.50, weaker than consensus of $ 7.51.

Verint Systems (VRNT +0.58%) reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 72 cents, well above consensus of 55 cents, and then raised guidance in fiscal 2015 EPS to $ 3.30-$ 3.50 from $ 3.20-$ 3.40, stronger than consensus of $ 3.30.

June E-mini S&Ps (ESM14 +0.08%) this morning are down -0.75 of a point (-0.04%). The S&P 500 index on Wednesday closed higher. Stocks had opened lower after a +179,000 increase in May ADP employment, less than expectations of 210,000 and the smallest increase in 4 months. The S&P 500 recovered, however, and posted a record high after the May ISM non-manufacturing index rose +1.1 to 56.3, better than expectations of +0.3 to 55.5 and the fastest pace of expansion in 9 months. Stocks also found support on an upbeat Fed Beige Book. Closes: S&P 500 +0.19%, Dow Jones +0.09%, Nasdaq +0.36%.

Sep 10-year T-notes (ZNU14 +0.24%) this morning are up +7 ticks. Sep 10-year T-note futures prices on Wednesday fell to a 3-week low and closed lower. Bearish factors included (1) the larger-than-expected increase in the May ISM non-manufacturing index, and (2) reduced safe-haven demand for T-notes after the S&P 500 rallied to yet another record high. Closes: TYU4 -3.50, FVU4 -0.75.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.08%) this morning is down -0.066 (-0.08%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.0011 (+0.08%). USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.26 (-0.25%). The dollar index on Wednesday closed higher after the May ISM non-manufacturing index expanded at the fastest pace in 9 months, a sign of economic strength. EUR/USD weakened ahead of Thursday’s ECB meeting where policy makers are expected to expand stimulus measures. USD/JPY posted a 1-month high on speculation that Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), Japan’s biggest, will diversify more of its assets into foreign investments from yen-denominated investments. Closes: Dollar Index +0.109 (+0.14%), EUR/USD -0.00288 (-0.21%), USD/JPY +0.239 (+0.23%).

July WTI crude oil (CLN14 -0.31%) this morning is down -30 cents (-0.29%). July gasoline (RBN14 -0.11%) is down -0.0025 (-0.09%). July crude and gasoline prices on Wednesday closed slightly lower. Bullish factors included (1) a -3,431 million bbl plunge in weekly EIA crude inventories, more than expectations of -250,000 bbl, and (2) the -321,000 bbl decline in crude stockpiles at Cushing, OK, the delivery point of WTI futures, to a 5-1/2 year low of 21.37 million bbl. Crude and gasoline shed their gains and closed lower after the EIA reported that total fuel consumption in the week ended May 30 fell by -977,000 bpd, the biggest drop in 5 months. Closes: CLN4 -0.02 (-0.02%) RBN4 -0.0135 (-0.46%).