Live Index – Mon, 05 Jan 2015 Premarket

March E-mini S&Ps (ESH15 -0.23%) this morning are down -0.26% and European stocks are down -1.06%, both at 2-week lows. Energy producers are leading the overall market lower after crude oil fell to a 5-1/2 year low. Also, Greek sovereign-debt concerns have undercut European stocks with Greece’s ASE Stock Index down over 4% to a 2-year low after Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine reported that German Chancellor Merkel is ready to accept Greece’s exit from the Eurozone. The Greek opposition party Syriza is leading in polls ahead of the Jan 25 elections and Greek Prime Minister Samaras warns that a victory by Syriza would cause default and Greece’s exit from the Eurozone. Asian stocks closed mixed: Japan -0.24%, Hong Kong -0.57%, China +3.05%, Taiwan -0.36%, Australia +0.26%, Singapore -1.26%, South Korea -0.22%, India -0.16%. China’s Shanghai Stock Index jumped to a 5-1/2 year high as investors bought shares of China’s largest companies and developers amid speculation the government will take more steps to bolster economic growth. Commodity prices are mixed. Feb crude oil (CLG15 -2.79%) is down -2.39% at a 5-1/2 year low on signs of ample global supplies after Russian Dec oil production rose +0.3% to a post-Soviet record of 10.667 million bpd and after Iraq Dec oil exports climbed to 2.94 million bpd, the most since the 1980s. Feb gasoline (RBG15 -2.82%) is down -2.07% at a 5-1/2 year low. Feb gold (GCG15 +0.29%) is up +0.19%. Mar copper (HGH15 -1.77%) is down -1.72%. Agriculture prices are higher. The dollar index (DXY00 +0.63%) is up +0.64% at a 9-year high. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.77% at an 8-3/4 year low on speculation the ECB is moving closer to large-scale sovereign-bond purchases. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.23%. Mar T-note prices (ZNH15 +0.09%) are up +0.5 of a tick.

The Eurozone Jan Sentix investor confidence rose +3.4 to 0.9, a bigger increase than expectations of +1.5 to -1.0 and the highest in 5 months.

The UK Dec Markit/CIPS construction PMI fell -1.8 to 57.6, a bigger decline than expectations of -0.4 to 59.0 and the lowest in 17 months.

Today’s Dec total vehicle sales is expected to edge lower to 16.90 million from 17.08 million in November.   There is one of the Russell 1000 companies that reports earnings today:  SandRidget Energy (consensus $ 0.04).  Equity equity conferences this week include:  Goldman Sachs CEO Unscripted Health Care Conference on Tue, Nomura Technology Conference at CES on Tue, J.P. Morgan Tech Forum on Tue, Wolfe Research Refiners Conference on Tue, Citi Global Internet, Media & Telecommunications Conference on Tue-Wed, Goldman Sachs Global Energy Conference on Wed-Thu, and Evercore ISI Utility Conference on Thu-Fri.

Caterpillar (CAT +0.38%) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK -0.87%) were both downgraded to ‘Underweight’ from ‘Neutral’ at JPMorgan Chase.

Starbucks (SBUX -0.74%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at Janney Capital.

Macy’s (M -0.09%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at Buckingham.

Domino’s Pizza (DPZ +0.13%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at Janney Capital.

Ford (F -0.90%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at Citigroup.

Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE -0.77%) was upgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Underperform’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

General Mills (GIS -0.41%) was downgraded to ‘Underperform’ from ‘Neutral’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Xylem (XYL +0.03%) was downgraded to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ at Stifel.

CF Industries (CF +1.97%) was upgraded to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Neutral’ at Piper Jaffray.

PPL Corp. (PPL +0.08%) was downgraded to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ at Jefferies.

Cognizant (CTSH +0.02%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at Goldman Sachs.

BorgWarner (BWA -0.38%) could rise 23% to $ 67 on higher returns and better growth prospects, according to a weekend article by Barron’s.

Alamo Group (ALG +1.30%) raised its dividend by 14% to 8 cents from 7 cents per share.

Wet Seal (WTSL +16.67%) defaulted on a $ 27 million senior convertible note.

Mar E-mini S&Ps (ESH15 -0.23%) this morning are down -5.25 points (-0.26%) at a 2-week low. The S&P 500 index on Friday slid to a 2-week low and closed lower: S&P 500 -0.03%, Dow Jones +0.06%, Nasdaq -0.20%. Bearish factors included (1) the weaker-than-expected U.S. Dec ISM manufacturing index report of -3.2 to 55.5, and (2) weakness in oil producers as crude oil prices fell to a fresh 5-1/2 year. The main bullish factor was ECB President Draghi’s statement that reinforced expectations for the ECB to announce sovereign debt purchases at its next meeting on Jan 22.

Mar 10-year T-notes (ZNH15 +0.09%) this morning are up +0.5 of a tick. Mar 10-year T-note futures prices on Friday closed mildly higher on the weaker-than-expected U.S. ISM report and on safe-haven demand with the decline in the S&P 500 index to a new 2-week low. Closes: TYH5 +11.5, FVH5 +5.25.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.63%) this morning is up +0.579 (+0.64%) at a 9-year high. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.0093 (-0.77%) at an 8-3/4 year low. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.28 (-0.23%). The dollar index on Friday posted a new 9-year high and closed sharply higher: Dollar index +0.804 (+0.89%), EUR/USD -0.0102 (-0.84%), USD/JPY -0.12 (-0.10%). The dollar was driven higher by euro weakness sparked by ECB President Draghi’s dovish QE statement.

Feb WTI crude oil (CLG15 -2.79%) this morning is down -$ 1.26 a barrel (-2.39%) at a fresh 5-1/2 year low and Feb gasoline (RBG15 -2.82%) is down -0.0296 (-2.07%) at a 5-1/2 year low. Feb crude on Friday slumped to a new 5-1/2 year low: CLG5 -0.58 (-1.09%), RBG5 -0.0387 (-2.63%). Bearish factors included (1) dollar strength, (2) news that Russian and Iraqi oil production rose in December, (3) the weak U.S. ISM manufacturing report, and (4) carry-over weakness from Wednesday’s EIA inventory report.