Live Index – Fri, 13 Jun 2014 Premarket

September E-mini S&Ps (ESU14 -0.16%) this morning are down -0.14% and European stocks are down -0.71% at a 1-week low as violence spreads in Iraq with militants moving south toward Baghdad. President Obama said that he won’t rule out using air strikes to help the Iraqi government thwart the advances of the Islamic militants. Asian stocks closed mixed: Japan +0.83%, Hong Kong +0.62%, China +1.06%, Taiwan -0.09%, Australia -0.44%, Singapore +0.01%, South Korea -1.24%, India -1.36%. China’s Shanghai Stock Index rose to a 1-1/2 month high after China industrial output and retail sales rose at a faster pace in May, which adds to signs that the economy may be stabilizing. As expected, the BOJ said it will continue to expand the monetary base at a pace of 60 trillion yen to 70 trillion yen ($ 688 billion) per year, but raised its assessment of overseas economies saying that overseas economies “are recovering,” an upgrade from last month’s statement that said they were “starting to recover.” Commodity prices are mostly higher. July crude oil (CLN14 +0.31%) is up +0.47% at an 8-3/4 month high as the escalation of violence in Iraq threatens crude supplies from OPEC’s second-largest oil producer. July gasoline (RBN14 +0.06%) is up +0.09% at a 1-1/2 month high. Aug gold (GCQ14 -0.09%) is down -0.07%. July copper (HGN14 +0.43%) is up +0.35%. Agriculture and livestock prices are higher. The dollar index (DXY00 +0.12%) is up +0.01%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.10%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.32%. GBP/USD is up +0.14% at a 5-week high as the pound strengthened after BOE Governor Carney said that rising UK mortgage debt may threaten Britain’s recovery and that interest rate increases “could happen sooner than markets currently expect.” Sep T-note prices (ZNU14 -0.25%) are down -8 ticks.

China May industrial production rose +8.8% y/y, right on expectations. China May retail sales rose +12.5% y/y, higher than expectations of +12.1% y/y.

Eurozone Q1 employment rose +0.1% q/q, the same as in Q4, but year-over-year rose +0.2% y/y, the first annual increase since Q3 of 2011.

UK Apr construction output rose +1.2% m/m, less than expectations of +1.5% m/m, but on an annual basis rose 4.6% y/y, more than expectations of +2.9% y/y.

Japan Apr industrial production was revised lower to -2.8% m/m and +3.8% y/y from the originally reported -2.5% m/m and +4.1% y/y. Apr capacity utilization fell -2.2% m/m.

Today’s May PPI (final demand) report is expected to strengthen to +2.4% y/y from +2.1% y/y in April. Meanwhile, today’s May core PPI is expected to strengthen to +2.3% y/y from +1.9% y/y in April. Today’s early-June U.S. consumer confidence from the University of Michigan is expected to show a +1.1 point increase to 83.0, reversing exactly half of the -2.2 point decline to 81.9 seen in May. None of the Russell 1000 companies report earnings today. There are no equity conferences today.

Marvell (MRVL -1.39%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Positive’ at Susquehanna.

Con-way (CNW -0.37%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at Wunderlich.

lululemon (LULU -15.91%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Overweight’ at JPMorgan Chase.

Occidental Petroleum (OXY +1.36%) was initiated with a ‘Buy’ at Jefferies with a price target of $ 114.

Marathon Oil (MRO +1.74%) was initiated with a ‘Buy’ at Jefferies with a price target of $ 45.

Aeropostale (ARO -2.62%) jumped almost 8% in after-hours trading after Sycamore reported an interest in acquiring Express.

Express (EXPR -2.59%) surged over 20% in after-hours trading after Sycamore Partners reported a 9.9% stake in the company.

Cimarex Energy (XEC +0.79%) will replace International Game (IGT -0.28%) in the S&P 500 as of the close of trading on Jun 20.

Eminence Capital reported a 5.1% passive stake in Fossil (FOSL -0.51%) .

Intel (INTC +0.11%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at Roth Capital.

Intel (INTC +0.11%) rose over 5% in after-hours trading after it raised guidance on its Q2 revenue view to $ 13.7 billion, plus or minus $ 300 million, stronger than consensus of $ 13.02 billion.

Finisar (FNSR +0.12%) slumped over 20% in after-hours tading after it reported Q4 EPS of 36 cents, weaker than consensus of 38 cents.

Sep E-mini S&Ps (ESU14 -0.16%) this morning are down -2.75 points (-0.14%). The S&P 500 index on Thursday sold-off steadily the entire day and settled lower. Bearish factors included (1) the unexpected +4,000 increase in weekly initial unemployment claims to 317,000, more than expectations of a -2,000 decline to 310,000, (2) May retail sales that rose +0.3% and +0.1% ex autos, less than expectations of +0.6% and +0.4% ex autos, and (3) an escalation of tensions in Iraq that sent crude oil prices soaring to an 8-3/4 month high, which may undercut consumer spending as gasoline prices rise. Closes: S&P 500 -0.71%, Dow Jones -0.65%, Nasdaq -0.90%.

Sep 10-year T-notes (ZNU14 -0.25%) this morning are down -8 ticks. Sep 10-year T-note futures prices on Thursday closed higher. Supportive factors included(1) increased safe-haven demand for T-notes as stocks swooned, (2) the smaller-than-expected increase in U.S. May retail sales, and (3) the unexpected increase in U.S. weekly jobless claims. Closes: TYU4 +15.00, FVU4 +6.50.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.12%) this morning is up +0.005 (+0.01%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.0013 (-0.10%). USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.33 (+0.32%). The dollar index on Thursday closed lower for a second day. Bearish factors included (1) the weaker than expected U.S. May retail sales, (2) strength in EUR/USD after Eurozone Apr industrial production rose +0.8% m/m, better than expectations of +0.5% m/m and the fastest pace in 5 months, and (3) a rally in the yen as USD/JPY fell to a 1-1/2 week low on speculation the BOJ will refrain from expanding stimulus measures when it meets on Thursday and Friday. Closes: Dollar Index -0.212 (-0.26%), EUR/USD +0.00206 (+0.15%), USD/JPY -0.376 (-0.37%).

July WTI crude oil (CLN14 +0.31%) this morning is up +50 cents a barrel (+0.47%) at a new 8-3/4 month high. July gasoline (RBN14 +0.06%) is up +0.0027 (+0.09%) at a fresh 1-1/2 month high. July crude and gasoline prices on Thursday closed sharply higher with July crude at an 8-3/4 month high and July gasoline at a 1-1/2 month high. Bullish factors included (1) a weaker dollar, (2) supply concerns after Islamic militants extended control over northern areas of Iraq, the second-largest producer in OPEC, and (3) carry-over support from the -198,000 bbl slide in inventories at Cushing, OK, the delivery point for WTI futures, to a 5-1/2 yr low of 21.17 million bbl. Closes: CLN4 +2.13 (+2.04%) RBN4 +0.0829 (+2.76%).