Live Index – Thu, 17 Jul 2014 Premarket

September E-mini S&Ps (ESU14 -0.56%) this morning are down -0.61% and European stocks are down -1.07% after the U.S. and EU imposed additional sanctions against Russia and on concern a Chinese company faces a possible onshore-bond default. The Russian ruble plunged and Russia’s Micex Stock Index fell to a 1-1/2 month low after the U.S. and EU imposed sanctions on Russian banks, energy companies and defense firms in the latest attempt to pressure the country to end support for Ukrainian rebels. The targeted Russian companies will be unable to access U.S. equity or debt markets for new financing with new maturities longer than 90 days. Asian stocks closed mixed: Japan -0.06%, Hong Kong -0.01%, China -0.64%, Taiwan -0.81%, Australia +0.06%, Singapore +0.07%, South Korea +0.43%, India +0.04%. China faces what could be its second onshore bond default after Huatong Road & Bridge Group warned that it may miss a payment on 400 million yuan ($ 64 million) of 1-year bonds due Jul 23. Commodity prices are mixed. Aug crude oil (CLQ14 +1.09%) is up +1.11%. Aug gasoline (RBQ14 -0.08%) is down -0.05%. Aug gold (GCQ14 +0.42%) is up +0.38%. Sep copper (HGU14 -0.25%) is down -0.09% at a 2-week low after a Chinese builder said it may default on a debt payment next week and after two Chinese government officials said foreign and local banks are reexamining loans linked to commodity financing, which threatens to undermine China’s copper demand. Agriculture and livestock prices are mixed. The dollar index (DXY00 -0.05%) is down -0.04%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.02%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.24%. Sep T-note prices (ZNU14 +0.21%) are up +8 ticks.

The U.S. and EU imposed the most aggressive sanctions to date on Russian businesses over Russian support for Ukraine rebels and said more sanctions may follow. OAO Roseneft, Russia’s largest oil company, natural gas producer OAO Novatek, OAO Gazprombank, Russia’s third-largest bank and 8 defense firms will be unable to access U.S. equity or debt markets for new financing with new maturities longer than 90 days. EU leaders agreed to blacklist companies and halt lending to public-sector projects in Russia.

Eurozone Jun new car registrations rose +4.5% y/y, unchanged from May and the tenth consecutive month of increase.

Eurozone May construction output fell -1.5% m/m, the largest decrease in 14 months, and on an annual basis rose +3.5% y/y.

Eurozone Jun CPI rose +0.1% m/m as expected and was left unrevised at +0.5% y/y. The Jun core CPI was also left unrevised at +0.8% y/y.

Today’s weekly initial unemployment claims report is expected to show an increase of +6,000 to 310,000, reversing about one-half of last week’s decline of -11,000 to 304,000. Meanwhile, today’s continuing claims report is expected to show a decline of -4,000 to 2.580 million following last week’s modest increase of +10,000 to 2.584 million. Today’s June housing starts report is expected to show an increase of +1.9% to 1.020 million, reversing part of the -6.5% decline to 1.001 million seen in May. Today’s July Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index is expected to show a -1.8 point decline to 16.0, giving back some of June’s +2.4 point increase to 17.8.

There are 24 of the S&P 500 companies that report earnings today with notable reports including: Google (consensus $ 6.25), IBM (4.31), Morgan Stanley (0.56), Capital One (1.82), and UnitedHealth (1.26). There are no equity conferences this week.

Mattel (MAT +0.23%) reported Q2 EPS of 3 cents, well below consensus of 18 cents.

Morgan Stanley (MS +1.56%) reported Q2 EPS of 60 cents, better than consensus of 56 cents.

AutoNation (AN +0.07%) reported Q2 EPS of 83 cents, weaker than consensus of 87 cents.

Sherwin-Williams (SHW -0.29%) reported Q2 EPS of $ 2.94, higher than consensus of $ 2.93.

Snap-On (SNA +0.48%) reported Q2 EPA of $ 1.80, stronger than consensus of $ 1.68.

KeyCorp (KEY -1.32%) reported Q2 EPS of 29 cents, above consensus of 26 cents.

Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB -0.92%) reported Q2 EPS of 43 cents, right on expectations.

UnitedHealth Group (UNH -0.17%) reported Q2 EPS of $ 1.42, higher than consensus of $ 1.26.

Danaher (DHR +0.33%) reported Q2 EPS of 93 cents, below consensus of 94 cents.

eBay (EBAY -0.22%) climbed over 1% in pre-market trading after it reported Q2 EPS of 69 cents, better than consensus of 68 cents.

Yum! Brands (YUM -0.57%) dropped over 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 EPS of 73 cents, lower than consensus of 74 cents.

SanDisk (SNDK +2.15%) slid over 9% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS of $ 1.41, better than consensus of $ 1.39, but then lowered guidance on Q3 revenue to $ 1.675 billion-$ 1.725 billion, below consensus of $ 1.74 billion.

Las Vegas Sands (LVS -0.57%) fell 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 85 cents, below consensus of 90 cents.

Plexus (PLXS +0.21%) rose over 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 74 cents, higher than consensus of 72 cents.

Sep E-mini S&Ps (ESU14 -0.56%) this morning are down -12.00 points (-0.61%). The stock market on Wednesday closed moderately higher. Supportive factors included (1) signs of improvement in the global economy after China’s Q2 GDP rose +7.5% y/y, better than expectations of +7.4% y/y and the first time the Chinese economy has accelerated in three straight quarters, and (2) an upbeat Fed Beige Book that said economic growth was modest to moderate in Jun as all 12 districts reported stronger consumer spending and expanded manufacturing. Closes: S&P 500 +0.42%, Dow Jones +0.45%, Nasdaq +0.46%.

Sep 10-year T-notes (ZNU14 +0.21%) this morning are up +8 ticks. Sep 10-year T-note futures prices Wednesday closed slightly lower. Negatives for T-notes included (1) the larger-than-expected increase in the Jul NAHB housing market index to a 6-month high, and (2) reduced safe-haven demand for Treasuries as stocks rallied. T-note losses were limited after U.S. Jun industrial production rose less than expected. Closes: TYU4 -0.5, FVU4 -1.75.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.05%) this morning is down -0.032 (-0.04%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.0003 (+0.02%) and USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.24 (-0.24%). The dollar index on Wednesday rallied to a 4-week high and closed higher. Bullish factors included (1) the larger-than-expected increase in the Jul NAHB housing market index to a 6-month high, and (2) weakness in EUR/USD which fell to a 1-month low on speculation the ECB may loosen monetary policy further while the Fed starts to tighten policy. Closes: Dollar index +0.169 (+0.21%), EUR/USD -0.00426 (-0.31%). USD/JPY unch.

Aug WTI crude oil (CLQ14 +1.09%) this morning is up +$ 1,12 a barrel (+1.11%) and Aug gasoline (RBQ14 -0.08%) is down -0.0013 (-0.05%). Aug crude and gasoline prices on Wednesday settled mixed. Bullish factors included (1) the -650,000 bbl decline in oil supplies at Cushing, OK, the delivery point of WTI futures, to a 5-1/2 yr low of 20.273 million bbl, and (2) the -7.525 million bbl plunge in weekly EIA crude inventories, over twice as much as expectations of a -2.75 million bbl. Gasoline prices fell on expectations for higher U.S. gasoline output after the refinery utilization rate rose by a larger-than-expected +2.2 to 93.8%, the highest in 8-3/4 years. Closes: CLQ4 +1.24 (+1.24%), RBQ4 -0.0154 (-0.53%).