Live Index – Fri, 18 Jul 2014 Premarket

September E-mini S&Ps (ESU14 +0.22%) this morning are up +0.18% as they recover from a 1-1/2 month low, while European stocks are down -0.30% at a 2-1/4 month low after a Malaysian passenger jet was shot down over eastern Ukraine and Israeli troops moved into Gaza. U.S. stock index futures recovered from overnight losses on optimism over Q2 company earnings results with Google up almost 2% in pre-market trading after it reported Q2 sales excluding revenue passed on to partners of $ 12.7 billion, higher than consensus of $ 12.3 billion. Asian stocks closed mixed: Japan -1.01%, Hong Kong -0.28%, China +0.33%, Taiwan -0.08%, Australia +0.17%, Singapore +0.11%, South Korea -0.10%, India +0.31%. China’s Shanghai Stock Index bucked the trend and closed higher on speculation the government will boost measures to promote economic growth after China Jun home prices fell in a record number of cities. Commodity prices are mixed. Aug crude oil (CLQ14 +0.18%) is up +0.41% at a 1-week high on heightened geopolitical risks in Ukraine and the Middle East. Aug gasoline (RBQ14 +0.26%) is up +0.38%. Aug gold (GCQ14 -0.42%) is down -0.49%. Sep copper (HGU14 -0.67%) is down -0.70% at a 2-week low after China Jun home prices fell and after weekly Shanghai copper inventories surged +24,398 MT to 108,851 MT, a 3-month high. Agriculture and livestock prices are mostly lower. The dollar index (DXY00 unch)vis up +0.03%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD)vis down -0.02% at a 1-month low. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.20%. Sep T-note prices (ZNU14 +0.04%)vare little changed, down -0.5 of a tick.

China Jun new home prices fell in 55 of the 70 cities tracked by the government, the most since Jan 2011 when the National Bureau of Statistics changed the way the data was tabulated.

St. Louis Fed President Bullard in a speech late Thursday, said that “If macroeconomic conditions continue to improve at the current pace, the normalization process may need to begin sooner rather than later.” He added that “normalization will take a long time, and current policy settings are far from normal, suggesting an earlier start” to tightening.

Japan Jun nationwide department store sales fell -4.6% y/y, the third straight month of declines.

The Eurozone May unadjusted current account shrank to a +8.9 billion euro surplus from an upward revised +18.8 billion euro surplus in Apr that was previously reported as a +18.7 billion euro surplus.

Today’s early-July U.S. consumer confidence index from the University of Michigan is expected to show a +0.5 point increase to 83.0, adding to June’s +0.6 point increase to 82.5. Today’s June leading indicators report is expected to show an increase of +0.5%, matching May’s increase of +0.5%. There are 9 of the S&P 500 companies that report earnings today with notable reports including: GE (consensus $ 0.39), Honeywell (1.36), Bank of New York Mellon (0.57), and Johnson Controls (0.83). There are no equity conferences this week.

Amazon (AMZN -0.97%) announces a Kindle Unlimited subscription service for $ 9.99 per month.

Johnson Controls (JCI -1.01%) reported Q3 EPS of 84 cents, better than consensus of 83 cents.

Honeywell International (HON -1.27%) reported Q2 EPS of $ 1.38, higher than consensus of $ 1.36.

General Electric (GE -1.52%) reported Q2 EPS of 39 cents, right on consensus.

Bank of New York Mellon (BK -0.29%) reported Q2 EPS of 62 cents, better than consensus of 57 cents.

Celanese (CE -1.25%) rose 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS of $ 1.47, well ahead of consensus of $ 1.24.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD -1.93%) slumped over 15% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 EPS of 2 cents, below consensus of 3 cents.

Schlumberger (SLB -1.07%) reported Q2 EPS ex-items $ 1.37, above consensus of $ 1.36.

Capital One (COF -2.24%) reported Q2 EPS of $ 2.04, well above consensus of $ 1.82.

Google (GOOG -1.53%) rose nealy 2% in pre-market trading after it reported Q2 EPS of $ 6.08, below consensus of $ 6.24, but reported Q2 sales excluding revenue passed on to partners of $ 12.7 billion, higher than consensus of $ 12.3 billion.

International Business Machines (IBM +0.07%) reported Q2 adjusted EPS of $ 4.32, better than consensus of $ 4.29, and said that it sees fiscal year 2014 EPS at least $ 18.00, above consensus of $ 17.87.

Stryker (SYK -0.70%) reported Q2 adjusted EPS of $ 1.08, right on consensus, but then lowered guidance on fiscal 2014 EPS to $ 4.75 – $ 4.80, on the lower end of consensus of $ 4.80.

Hub Group (HUBG +1.34%) reported Q2 EPS of 51 cents, higher than consensus of 50 cents.

Seagate (STX -2.97%) reported Q4 EPS of $ 1.10, right on consensus, although Q4 revenue of $ 3.30 billion was slightly below consensus of $ 3.33 billion.

Sep E-mini S&Ps (ESU14 +0.22%) this morning are up +3.50 points (+0.18%) as they recover from a 1-1/2 month low posted in overnight trade. The stock market on Thursday closed lower. Bearish factors included (1) heightened geopolitical risks after a Malaysian passenger jet was shot down over Ukraine and Israel sent troops into Gaza, and (2) the unexpected -9.3% decline in U.S. Jun housing starts to a 9-month low of 893,000, weaker than expectations of +1.9% to 1.020 million. Closes: S&P 500 -1.18%, Dow Jones -0.94%, Nasdaq -1.38%.

Sep 10-year T-notes (ZNU14 +0.04%) this morning are dpwn -0.5 of a tick. Sep 10-year T-note futures prices on Thursday posted a 1-1/2 month high and closed higher. Bullish factors included (1) the unexpectedly large decline in U.S. Jun housing starts and building permits, and (2) increased safe-haven demand after a Malaysian passenger jet was shot down in Ukraine near the Russian border. Bearish factors included the decline in weekly jobless claims to a 2-month low and the unexpected rise in the Jul Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index to a 3-1/3 year high. Closes: TYU4 +15.5, FVU4 +7.75.

The dollar index (DXY00 unch) this morning is up +0.024 (+0.03%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.0003 (-0.02%) at a 1-month low and USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.20 (+0.20%). The dollar index on Thursday closed slightly lower after U.S. Jun housing starts unexpectedly dropped to a 9-month low. Dollar losses were contained after the Jul Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index unexpectedly rose to a 3-1/3 year high and after a Malaysian passenger jet was shot down over Ukraine, which boosted the safe-haven demand for the dollar. Closes: Dollar index -0.054 (-0.07%), EUR/USD +0.0001 (+0.01%). USD/JPY -0.50 (-49%).

Aug WTI crude oil (CLQ14 +0.18%) this morning is up +42 cents (+0.41%) at a 1-week high and Aug gasoline (RBQ14 +0.26%) is up +0.0110 (+0.38%). Aug crude and gasoline prices on Thursday settled mixed. Aug crude posted a 1-week high and Aug gasoline recovered from their worst levels on heightened geopolitical risks after a Malaysian passenger jet was shot down over Ukraine. Gasoline prices earlier fell to a 3-month low on negative carry-over from Wednesday’s EIA data showing a rise in the refinery utilization rate to an 8-3/4 year high of 93.8%, which bolstered expectations for increased U.S. gasoline output. Closes: CLQ4 +1.99 (+1.97%), RBQ4 -0.0008 (-0.03%).