MORNING CALL 1/13

Barchart Morning Call

Barchart.com - Fri Jan 13, 6:36AM CST

OVERNIGHT MARKETS AND NEWS

Mar E-mini S&Ps (ESH17 +0.09%) are up +0.11% and European stocks are up +0.71% after upbeat comments late Thursday evening from Fed Chair Yellen who said the U.S. economy faces no serious short-term obstacles with low unemployment and wage growth beginning to pick up. Stock gains were limited on global growth concerns after China Dec exports declined more than expected. Also, a -1.13% decline in Feb WTI crude prices (CLG17 -1.08%) is undercutting energy producing stocks. Asian stocks settled mixed: Japan +0.80%, Hong Kong +0.47%, China -0.21%, Taiwan -0.33%, Australia -0.79%, Singapore +1.07%, South Korea -0.76%, India -0.03%. Chinese stocks closed lower as exporting companies sold-off on earnings concerns after China Dec exports fell more than expected.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.15%) is down -0.17%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.39% and found support on a jump in German Dec wholesale prices by the most in 4-years, which bolsters the case for the ECB to taper QE. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.04%.

Mar 10-year T-note prices (ZNH17 +0.11%) are up +4 ticks.

Fed Chair Yellen said late Thursday evening that the U.S. economy faces no serious short-term obstacles, but must deal with long-term challenges of low productivity and income inequality. She said “unemployment has now reached a low level; the labor market is generally strong and wage growth is beginning to pick up. Inflation has moved up from a very low level, and it's a little bit under our 2% objective, but it's very close."

The German Dec wholesale price index rose +1.2% m/m and +2.8% y/y, the fastest pace of increase in 4 years.

The China Dec trade balance shrank to a surplus of +$40.82 billion, narrower than expectations of +$47.55 billion and the smallest surplus in 8 months. Dec exports fell -6.1% y/y, weaker than expectations of -4.0% y/y. Dec imports rose +3.1% y/y, stronger than expectations of +3.0% y/y.

U.S. STOCK PREVIEW

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) Dec retail sales (expected +0.7% and +0.5% ex autos, Nov +0.1% and +0.2% ex autos), (2) Dec PPI final demand (expected +0.3% m/m and +1.6% y/y, Nov +0.4% m/m and +1.3% y/y) and Dec PPI ex food & energy (expected +0.1% m/m and +1.5% y/y, Nov +0.4% m/m and +1.6% y/y), (3) Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker (voter) speaks on economic mobility at an event in Philadelphia, (4) Nov business inventories (expected +0.6%, Oct -0.2%), (5) preliminary-Jan University of Michigan U.S. consumer sentiment index (expected +0.3 to 98.5, Dec +4.4 to 98.2), (6) Dec monthly budget statement (expected -$25.0 billion, Nov -$136.7 billion).

S&P 500 earnings reports today include: JPMorgan (consensus $1.43), Bank of America (0.38), BlackRock (5.02), PNC Financial (1.85), Wells Fargo (1.00).

U.S. IPO's scheduled to price today: none.

Equity conferences today: none.

OVERNIGHT U.S. STOCK MOVERS

Bank of America (BAC -0.65%) is up +0.5% in pre-market trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 40 cents, better than consensus of 38 cents

GrubHub (GRUB +0.54%) rose 2% in pre-market trading after being upgraded by Morgan Stanley to 'Overweight' from 'Equal-weight'

BlackRock (BLK -0.70%) reported Q4 adjusted EPS of $5.14, stronger than consensus of $5.02.

GameStop (GME +0.45%) was downgraded to 'Neutral' from 'Outperform' at Macquarie Research with a 12-month target price of $23.

Tractor Supply (TSCO -0.72%) was upgraded to 'Outperform' from 'Neutral' at Wedbush.

Zillow Group (ZG +1.80%) was downgraded to 'Equal-weight' from 'Overweight' at Morgan Stanley.

Independence Realty Trust (IRT -0.44%) was rated a new 'Outperform' at Baird with a 12-month target price of $10.

Signet Jewelers (SIG -0.40%) slid over 1% in after-hours trading after Corvex Management sold 2.5 million shares in a block trade.

WPX Energy (WPX -1.36%) lost 1% in after-hours trading after it announced a public offering of 42 million shares of common stock.

Pandora Media (P +0.93%) jumped 7% in after-hours trading after it said it sees Q4 revenue above its October 25 forecast of $362 million-$374 million citing strong advertising.

Two Harbors Investment (TWO -0.45%) fell nearly 2% in after-hours trading after it proposed a public offering of $250 million of senior convertible notes due 2022.

Uranium Resources (URRE -1.88%) slumped 17% in after-hours trading after it proposed a public offering of common stock, although no size or terms of the offering were mentioned.

Nivalis Therapeutics (NVLS -2.64%) gained 2% in after-hours trading after it announced restructuring plans to "reduce operational costs and preserve cash" while exploring strategic alternatives and named CFO Michael Carruthers as interim president effective Jan 15.

MARKET COMMENTS

Mar E-mini S&Ps (ESH17 +0.09%) this morning are up +2.50 points (+0.11%). Thursday's closes: S&P 500 -0.21%, Dow Jones -0.32%, Nasdaq -0.17%. The S&P 500 on Thursday dropped to a 1-week low and closed lower on some continued disappointment that President-elect Trump did not provide specifics on any of his fiscal-stimulus plans in Wednesday's press conference. There was also continued weakness in pharmaceutical and biotech stocks after President-elect Trump said he would force drug makers to bid for government business to save the government money. Stocks found some support from the +10,000 rise in U.S. weekly jobless claims to 247,000, less than expectations of +20,000 to 255,000.

Mar 10-year T-notes (ZNH17 +0.11%) this morning are up +4 ticks. Thursday's closes: TYH7 +2.50, FVH7 +1.50. Mar 10-year T-notes on Thursday closed higher and the 10-year T-note yield fell to a 6-week low of 2.305%. T-note prices were boosted by the sell-off in the S&P 500 to a 1-week low, which boosted the safe-haven demand for T-notes, and by strong foreign demand for the Treasury's $12 billion auction of 30-year T-bonds that had a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.32, above the 12-auction average of 2.29. In addition, indirect bidders, a proxy for foreign buyers, bought 66.7% of the auction, above the 12-auction average of 61.4%.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.15%) this morning is down -0.17 (-0.17%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.0032 (+0.30%). USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.05 (-0.04%). Thursday's closes: Dollar index -0.43 (-0.42%), EUR/USD +0.0031 (+0.29%), USD/JPY -0.69 (-0.60%). The dollar index on Thursday tumbled to a 1-month low and closed lower on continued liquidation of long dollar positions on disappointment that President-elect Trump did not discuss his administration's fiscal stimulus plans at Wednesday's press conference. The dollar was also undercut by reduced dollar interest rate differentials after the 10-year T-note yield dropped to a 1-1/4 month low. USD/JPY fell to a 1-month low as weakness in stocks boosted the safe-haven demand for the yen.

Feb WTI crude oil prices (CLG17 -1.08%) this morning are down -60 cents (-1.13%) and Feb gasoline (RBG17 -0.52%) is -0.0092 (-0.57%). Thursday's closes: Feb crude +0.78 (+1.49%), Feb gasoline +0.0247 (+1.55%). Feb crude oil and gasoline on Thursday closed higher on the sell-off in the dollar index to a 1-month low and on signs of falling OPEC oil production after Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Al-Falih said that Saudi oil production is now below 10 million bpd, a deeper cut than the 10.058 million bpd it had agreed to and the lowest production in 22 months. Crude oil also found continued support from Wednesday's EIA data that showed strong refinery demand for crude after U.S. refiners used 17.1 million bpd of crude last week, the most since data began in 1989.

GLOBAL EVENT CALENDAR01/13/2017

		Friday, Jan 13
US	0830 ET	Dec retail sales expected +0.7% and +0.5% ex autos, Nov +0.1% and +0.2% ex autos.
	0830 ET	Dec PPI final demand expected +0.3% m/m and +1.6% y/y, Nov +0.4% m/m and +1.3% y/y. Dec PPI ex food & energy expected +0.1% m/m and +1.5% y/y, Nov +0.4% m/m and +1.6% y/y.
	0930 ET	Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker (voter) speaks on economic mobility at an event in Philadelphia.
	1000 ET	Nov business inventories expected +0.6%, Oct -0.2%.
	1000 ET	Preliminary-Jan University of Michigan U.S. consumer sentiment index expected +0.3 to 98.5, Dec +4.4 to 98.2.
	1400 ET	Dec monthly budget statement expected -$25.0 billion, Nov -$136.7 billion.
		Tuesday, Jan 17
US	0830 ET	Jan Empire manufacturing survey general business conditions expected -1.2 to 7.8, Dec +7.5 to 9.0.
	0845 ET	New York Fed President Dudley (voter) speaks at a National Retail Federation Conference on consumer behavior.
	1100 ET	USDA weekly grain export inspections.
	1800 ET	San Francisco Fed President John Williams (non-voter) speaks at the Sacramento Business Review Economic Forecast event.

U.S. STOCK CALENDAR01/13/2017

Company	Ticker	Time	Event Description	Period	Estimate
BlackRock Inc	BLK US	Bef-mkt	Q4 2016 Earnings Release	Q4 2016	5.022
First Republic Bank/CA	FRC US	Bef-mkt	Q4 2016 Earnings Release	Q4 2016	1.025
JPMorgan Chase & Co	JPM US	6:45	Q4 2016 Earnings Release	Q4 2016	1.427
Bank of America Corp	BAC US	6:45	Q4 2016 Earnings Release	Q4 2016	0.377
PNC Financial Services Group Inc/The	PNC US	6:45	Q4 2016 Earnings Release	Q4 2016	1.845
First Horizon National Corp	FHN US	7:00	Q4 2016 Earnings Release	Q4 2016	0.254
Wells Fargo & Co	WFC US	8:00	Q4 2016 Earnings Release	Q4 2016	0.999
Bank of America Corp	BAC US	8:30	Q4 2016 Earnings Call	Q4 2016
BlackRock Inc	BLK US	8:30	Q4 2016 Earnings Call	Q4 2016
First Horizon National Corp	FHN US	9:30	Q4 2016 Earnings Call	Q4 2016
JPMorgan Chase & Co	JPM US	10:00	Q4 2016 Earnings Call	Q4 2016
John Wiley & Sons Inc	JW/A US	10:00	Investor Day	Y 2017
First Republic Bank/CA	FRC US	10:00	Q4 2016 Earnings Call	Q4 2016
PNC Financial Services Group Inc/The	PNC US	11:00	Q4 2016 Earnings Call	Q4 2016
Wells Fargo & Co	WFC US	11:30	Q4 2016 Earnings Call	Q4 2016
GameStop Corp	GME US		December 2016 Sales and Revenue Release	2016

MORNING CALL 7/14

MORNING CALL'

Thursday, July 14th, 2016View Older Reports

Everything you need to know about the markets in one free daily newsletter.

E-mail:  

You will also receive a free subscription to the Barchart family of newsletters.

OVERNIGHT MARKETS AND NEWS

Sep E-mini S&Ps (ESU16 +0.65%) are up +0.75% at a new all-time nearest-futures high and European stocks are up +1.27% at a 2-1/2 week high on speculation world central banks will increase stimulus measures in order to support economic growth. The stock indexes fell back from their best levels and GBP/USD jumped +1.45% to a 2-week high after the BOE unexpectedly voted 8-1 to keep the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.50% and voted 9-0to maintain the asset purchase target at 375 billion pounds, although the post meeting statement said that " most members of the committee expect monetary policy to be loosened in August." JPMorgan Chase is up over 2% in pre-market trading and is leading financial stocks higher after it reported Q2 EPS of $1.55, better than consensus of $1.43. Energy producing stocks are also higher with the price of crude oil (CLQ16 +1.50%) up +1.18% and mining stocks and raw-material producers are up as well with the price of copper (HGU16 +0.20%) up +0.09%. Asian stocks settled mostly higher: Japan +0.95%, Hong Kong +1.12%, China -0.22%, Taiwan +0.10%, Australia +0.43%, Singapore -0.13%, South Korea +0.22%, India +0.46%. A rally in USD/JPY to a 2-1/2 week high gave Japanese exporter stocks a boost and led Japan's Nikkei Stock Index higher. The yen has weakened and Japanese stocks have pushed higher this week after Prime Minster Abe's party won upper-house elections and promised more stimulus.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.26%) is up +0.08%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.17%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.84% at a 2-1/2 week high.

Sep T-note prices (ZNU16 -0.28%) are down -7.5 ticks.

U.S. STOCK PREVIEW

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) weekly MBA mortgage applications (previous +14.2% with purchase sub-index +4.3% and refi sub-index +20.8%), (2) Jun import price index (expected +0.5% m/m and -4.6% y/y, May +1.4% m/m and -5.0% y/y), (3) the Treasury's auction of $12 billion of 30-year T-bonds, (4) Jun monthly budget statement (expected +$23.0 billion, May -$52.507 billion), (5) Fed Beige Book, (6) Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker (non-voter) speaks on the economic outlook at an event in Philadelphia, and (7) EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report.

S&P 500 companies reporting earnings today: JPMorgan Chase (consensus $1.43), Blackrock (4.77), Delta ((1.42), Omnicom (1.33), Progressive Corp (0.33).

U.S. IPO's scheduled to price today: AdvancePierre Foods Holdings (APFH), Ageagle Aerial System (UAVS).

Equity conferences this week include: none.

OVERNIGHT U.S. STOCK MOVERS

JPMorgan Chase (JPM -0.06%) climbed over 2% in pre-market trading after it reported Q2 EPS of $1.55, higher than consensus of $1.43.

Procter & Gamble (PG +0.16%) was upraded to 'Buy' from 'Neutral' at UBS with a 12-month price target of $96.

Newmont Mining (NEM +2.30%) was upgraded to 'Buy' from 'Sell' at Veritas Investment Research with a 12-month price target of $42.

Yum! Brands (YUM -0.57%) climbed over 3% in pre-market trading after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 75 cents, better than consensus of 74 cents, and then forecast operating profit growth this year up "at least" 14%, higher than an April view of up 12%.

Eaon Corp PLC (ETN -0.14%) was downgraded to 'Neutral' from 'Buy' at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch.

The WSJ reports that Viacom (VIA -1.20%) is in talks to sell a 49% stake in its Paramount Pictures move studio to China's Dalian Wanda.

LSB Industries (LXU -2.91%) dropped 2% in after-hours trading after it registered 4.5 million shares for top holder LSB Funding.

Coeur Mining (CDE +5.34%) was upgraded to 'Outperform' from 'Sector Perform' at RBC Capital Markets with a 12-month target price of $18.

Novovure Ltd. (NVCR -1.97%) jumped nearly 6% in after-hours trading after the FDA approved its second-generation Optune System for glioblastoma patients.

Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF +1.12%) fell 1% in after-hours trading after it was downgraded to 'Market Perform' from 'Outperform' at Bernstein.

Summit Materials (SUM -0.18%) said its preliminary Q2 adjusted EPS will be 43 cents-44 cents, below consensus of 47 cents.

Monsanto (MON -1.17%) gained over 1% in after-hours trading after people familiar with the matter said the company has revived talks with BASF about a possible combination of their agrochemicals businesses.

Philadelphia Fed President Harker (non-voter) said "considering the economic projections, he anticipates it may be appropriate for up to two additional rate hikes this year and that the funds rate will approach 3% by the end of 2018."

MARKET COMMENTS

Sep E-mini S&Ps (ESU16 +0.65%) this morning are up +16.00 points (+0.75%) at a fresh all-time nearest-futures high. Wednesday's closes: S&P 500 +0.01%, Dow Jones +0.13%, Nasdaq -0.26%. The S&P 500 on Wednesday climbed to a new record high and closed slightly higher on a rally in mining stocks and raw-material producers after copper prices rose +1.22% to a 2-1/4 month high. Stocks were also boosted by the Fed Beige Book comment that "the outlook was generally positive across broad segments of the economy." Stocks were undercut by a sell-off in energy producer stocks after crude oil prices fell sharply by -4.38%.

Sep 10-year T-note prices (ZNU16 -0.28%) this morning are down -7.5 ticks. Wednesday's closes: TYU6 +10.00, FVU6 +3.75. Sep T-bonds on Wednesday closed higher on the slide in stocks and on strong demand for the Treasury's $12 billion auction of 30-year T-bonds that had a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.48, higher than the 12-auction average of 2.34.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.26%) this morning is up +0.073 (+0.08%), EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.0019 (+0.17%) and USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.88 (+0.84%) at a 2-1/2 week high. Wednesday's closes: Dollar index -0.225 (-0.23%), EUR/USD +0.0029 (+0.26%), USD/JPY -0.20 (-0.19%). The dollar index on Wednesday closed lower on the the steeper-than-expected decline in China May imports, which signals weakness in China's economy that may restrain global growth and keep the Fed from raising interest rates. The dollar was undercut by the Fed Beige Book that said the U.S. economy grew "modestly" amid "slight" price pressures, which bolsters the case for the Fed to refrain from raising interest rates.

Aug WTI crude oil (CLQ16 +1.50%) prices this morning are up +53 cents (+1.18%) and Aug gasoline prices (RBQ16 +2.07%) are up +0.0197 (+1.43%). Wednesday's closes: CLQ6 -2.05 (-4.38%), RBQ6 -0.0517 (-3.62%). Aug crude oil and gasoline on Wednesday closed sharply lower on comments by Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Ali Kardor who said his country is pushing to raise its crude production to 4.0 million bpd by the end of Sep, earlier than previous forecasts for output to rise to 4.0 million bpd by year end. Crude oil and gasoline prices were also undercut by the unexpected +1.21 million bbl increase in EIA gasoline stockpiles (more than expectations of -1.0 million bbl) and the +0.7% increase in U.S. crude production to 8.485 million bpd, the first increase in five weeks.

GLOBAL EVENT CALENDAR07/14/2016

		Thursday, July 14, 2016
US	0830 ET	Weekly initial unemployment claims expected +11,000 to 265,000, previous -16,000 to 254,000. Weekly continuing claims expected +6,000 to 2.130 million, previous -44,000 to 2.124 million.
	0830 ET	Jun PPI final demand expected +0.3% m/m and -0.1% y/y, May +0.4% m/m and -0.1% y/y. Jun PPI ex food & energy expected +0.1% m/m and +1.0% y/y, May +0.3% m/m and +1.2% y/y.
	0830 ET	USDA weekly Export Sales.
	1100 ET	Treasury announces amount of 10-year TIPS (previous $11 billion) to be auctioned Jul 21.
	1115 ET	Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart (non-voter) speaks at the Rocky Mountain Economic Summit in Victor, Idaho.
	1900 ET	Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan (non-voter) speaks at the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum in St. Louis about economic conditions and the role of monetary policy.
CHI	2200 ET	China Q2 GDP expected +1.6% q/q and +6.6% y/y, Q1 +1.1% q/q and +6.7% y/y.
	2200 ET	China Jun industrial production expected +5.9% y/y, May +6.0% y/y.
	2200 ET	China Jun retail sales expected +9.9% y/y, May +10.0% y/y.
		Friday, July 15, 2016
US	0830 ET	Jun retail sales expected +0.1% and +0.4% ex autos, May +0.5% and +0.4% ex autos. Jun retail sales ex auto & gas expected +0.3%, May +0.3%.
	0830 ET	Jun CPI expected +0.2% m/m and +1.1% y/y, May +0.2% m/m and +1.0% y/y. Jun CPI ex food & energy expected +0.2% m/m and +2.2% y/y, May +0.2% m/m and +2.2% y/y.
	0830 ET	Jul Empire manufacturing survey general business conditions expected -1.01 to 5.00, Jun +15.03 to 6.01.
	0915 ET	Jun industrial production expected +0.3%, May -0.4%. Jun manufacturing production expected +0.3%, May -0.4%. Jun capacity utilization expected +0.2 to 75.1%, May -0.4 to 74.9%.
	1000 ET	May business inventories expected +0.1%, Apr +0.1%.
	1000 ET	Preliminary-Jul University of Michigan U.S. consumer sentiment index expected -0.2 to 93.3, Jun -1.2 to 93.5.
	1300 ET	San Francisco Fed President John Williams (non-voter) speaks at the NBER Monetary Economics Summer Institute on Monetary Policy.
	1315 ET	Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari (non-voter) and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard (voter) participate in a facilitated discussion at an OMFIF meeting in St. Louis.
EUR	0200 ET	Eurozone Jun new car registrations, May +16.0% y/y.
	0500 ET	Revised Eurozone Jun CPI, prelim-Jun -0.1% y/y. Revised Jun core CPI, prelim-Jun +0.9% y/y.
UK	0430 ET	UK May construction output expected -1.2% m/m and -3.5% y/y, Apr +2.5% m/m and -3.7% y/y.

U.S. STOCK CALENDAR07/14/2016

Company	Ticker	Time	Event Description	Period	Estimate
BlackRock Inc	BLK	Bef-mkt	Q2 2016 Earnings Release	Q2 2016	4.774
First Republic Bank/CA	FRC	Bef-mkt	Q2 2016 Earnings Release	Q2 2016	0.986
JPMorgan Chase & Co	JPM	6:45	Q2 2016 Earnings Release	Q2 2016	1.431
Delta Air Lines Inc	DAL	7:00	Q2 2016 Earnings Release	Q2 2016	1.418
JPMorgan Chase & Co	JPM	8:30	Q2 2016 Earnings Call	Q2 2016
CSX Corp	CSX	8:30	Q2 2016 Earnings Call	Q2 2016
Omnicom Group Inc	OMC	8:30	Q2 2016 Earnings Call	Q2 2016
BlackRock Inc	BLK	8:30	Q2 2016 Earnings Call	Q2 2016
Yum! Brands Inc	YUM	9:15	Q2 2016 Earnings Call	Q2 2016
Delta Air Lines Inc	DAL	10:00	Q2 2016 Earnings Call	Q2 2016
First Republic Bank/CA	FRC	10:00	Q2 2016 Earnings Call	Q2 2016
Omnicom Group Inc	OMC		Q2 2016 Earnings Release	Q2 2016	1.334
Progressive Corp/The	PGR		Q2 2016 Earnings Release	Q2 2016	0.326
E*TRADE Financial Corp	ETFC		June 2016 Sales and Revenue Release - Activity Report

MORNING CALL 4/14

MORNING CALL

Thursday, April 14th, 2016View Older Reports

Everything you need to know about the markets in one free daily newsletter.

E-mail:  

You will also receive a free subscription to the Barchart family of newsletters.

OVERNIGHT MARKETS AND NEWS

Jun E-mini S&Ps (ESM16 -0.04%) are down -0.05% as they consolidate after yesterday's sharp rally to a 4-month high. European stocks are up +0.01% at a 2-week high. Gains in European stocks were limited after German economic institutes cut their 2016 German GDP forecast to 1.6% from 1.8%. As expected, the BOE kept its benchmark rate unchanged at 0.50% and maintained its asset purchase target at 375 billion pounds following today's policy meeting. Asian stocks settled higher: Japan +3.23%, Hong Kong +0.85%, China +0.51%, Taiwan +0.18%, Australia +1.27%, Singapore +0.81%, South Korea +2.13%, India closed for holiday. Japan's Nikkei Stock Index rose to a 2-week high after USD/JPY gained for a second day, which boosted exporter stocks.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.18%) is up +0.20% at a 2-week high. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.08% at a 2-week low. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.06%.

Jun T-note prices (ZNM16 -0.19%) are down -6 ticks.

The top German economic institutes that include Ifo, DIW, IWH and RWI cut their German 2016 growth estimate to 1.6% from 1.8%, citing a slump in global demand.

Singapore's central bank unexpectedly eased its monetary stance after the Monetary Authority of Singapore it moved to a neutral policy of zero percent appreciation in the local dollar, a policy last adopted during the 2008 global financial crisis.

U.S. STOCK PREVIEW

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) weekly initial unemployment claims (expected +3,000 to 270,000, previous -9,000 to 267,000) and continuing claims (expected -8,000 to 2.183 million, previous +19,000 to 2.191 million), (2) Mar CPI (expected +0.2% m/m and +1.1% y/y, Feb -0.2% m/m and +1.0% y/y) and Mar core CPI (expected +0.2% m/m and +2.3% y/y, Feb +0.3% m/m and +2.3% y/y), (3) Fed Governor Jerome Powell's appearance before the Senate Banking Committee in a hearing on current trends and changes in the fixed-income markets, (4) Alanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart's speech to the ENGAGE International Investment Education Symposium, and (5) the Treasury's auction of $12 billion of 30-year T-bonds.

There are 6 of the S&P 500 companies that report earnings today: Bank of America (consensus $0.21), Wells Fargo (0.97), PNC Financial (1.70), Progressive (0.50), Blackrock (4.29), Delta Airlines (1.30).

U.S. IPO's scheduled to price today: Bats Global markets (BATS).

Equity conferences during the remainder of this week include: Goldman Sachs Cars Conference on Fri.

OVERNIGHT U.S. STOCK MOVERS

BlackRock (BLK +2.65%) reported Q1 EPS of $4.25, less than consensus of $4.30.

Bank of America (BAC +3.92%) reported Q1 EPS of 20 cents, below consensus of 21 cents.

3D Systems (DDD -0.18%) jumped 7% in pre-market trading after it was upgraded to 'Buy' from 'Underperform' by Bank of America/Merril Lynch.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG +0.01%) climbed over 2% in pre-market trading after it ws upgraded to 'Overweight' from 'Neutral' at JPMorgan Chase.

Applied Materials (AMAT +1.82%) was upgraded to 'Buy' from 'Neutral' at UBS with a price target of $26.

A U.S. District judge ruled that Microsoft's allegations that InterDigital (IDCC +1.25%) engaged in anticompetitive conduct are "sufficient" for the antitrust suit against InterDigital to proceed.

Insys Therapeutics (INSY +2.35%) was rated a new 'Buy' at Janney Montgomery with a 12-month price target of $22.

ECB Vice President Constancio said the ECB will do "whatever necessary" to bring Eurozone inflation close to objective.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN +0.50%) rose over 2% in after-hours trading after founder Steve Wynn spent $7.2 million to buy an additional 72,851 shares on April 11, according to a Form 4 filing.

Pier 1 Imports (PIR +5.61%) climbed 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 EPS of 23 cents, above a March 7 estimate of 18 cents-22 cents.

Seagate Technology (STX -3.17%) fell 7% in pre-market trading after it reported preliminary Q3 revenue of $2.6 billion, below consensus of $2.7 billion and said it sees gross margins of 23%, below estimates of 25.7%.

Raytheon (RTN -0.40%) received a $1.01 billion contract from the U.S. Navy for design, manufacture, integration, demonstration and test of 15 Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) systems that will replace the ALQ-99 jammer system on EA-18G aircraft.

Dominion Diamond (DDC -3.06%) gained almost 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 revenue of $178.1 million, better than consensus of $178 million.

MARKET COMMENTS

June E-mini S&Ps (ESM16 -0.04%) this morning are down -1.00 point (-0.05%). Wednesday's closes: S&P 500 +1.00%, Dow Jones +1.06%, Nasdaq +1.31%. The S&P 500 on Wednesday climbed to a 4-month high and closed higher on reduced Chinese economic concerns after China Mar exports rose +11.5% y/y, stronger than expectations of +10.0% y/y and the biggest increase in 13 months. There was also a rally in bank stocks after JPMorgan Chase rose +4.2% on better-than-expected Q1 earnings results. The main bearish factor was that U.S. Mar retail sales unexpectedly fell -0.3%, weaker than expectations of +0.1%, and Mar retail sales ex-autos rose +0.2%, weaker than expectations of +0.4%.

June 10-year T-note prices (ZNM16 -0.19%) this morning are down -6 ticks. Wednesday's closes: TYM6 +2.50, FVM6 unch. Jun T-notes on Wednesday fell to a 1-week but recovered and closed higher on the unexpected declines in the U.S. Mar retail sales and Mar PPI reports and on strong demand for the Treasury's $20 billion 10-year auction that had a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.75, higher than the 12-auction average of 2.63. T-note prices were undercut by the rally in the S&P 500 to a 4-month high and by reduced global economic concerns after China Mar exports rose by the most in 13 months.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.18%) this morning is up +0.185 (+0.20%) at a 2-week high. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.009 (-0.08%) at a 2-week low. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.07 (-0.06%). Wednesday's closes: Dollar Index +0.785 (+0.84%), EUR/USD -0.0112 (-0.98%), USD/JPY +0.80 (+0.74%). The dollar index on Wednesday closed higher on weakness in EUR/USD which slid to a 2-week low after Eurozone Feb industrial production fell -0.8% m/m, weaker than expectations of -0.7% m/m and the biggest decline in 1-1/2 years.

May WTI crude oil (CLK16 +0.17%) is unch. May gasoline (RBK16 +0.18%) is down -0.0042 (-0.27%). Wednesday's closes: CLK6 -0.62 (-1.47%), RBK6-0.0071 (-0.46%). May crude and gasoline on Wednesday closed lower on the stronger dollar and on the +6.63 million bbl surge in EIA crude inventories to a record high 536.5 million bbl, more than expectations of a +1.0 million bbl increase. Crude oil received some underlying support from the -0.3% drop in U.S. crude production in the week ended Apr 8 to a 17-month low of 8.977 million bpd and from the -4.24 million bbl decline in weekly EIA gasoline supplies, a bigger decline than expectations of -1.5 million bbl.

GLOBAL EVENT CALENDAR04/14/2016

US	0830 ET	Weekly initial unemployment claims expected +3,000 to 270,000, previous -9,000 to 267,000. Weekly continuing claims expected-8,000 to 2.183 million, previous +19,000 to 2.191 million.
	0830 ET	Mar CPI expected +0.2% m/m and +1.1% y/y, Feb -0.2% m/m and +1.0% y/y. Mar CPI ex-food & energy expected +0.2% m/m and +2.3% y/y, Feb +0.3% m/m and +2.3% y/y.
	0830 ET	USDA weekly Export Sales.
	1000 ET	Fed Governor Jerome Powell appears before the Senate Banking Committee in a hearing on current trends and changes in the fixed-income markets.
	1000 ET	Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart speaks to the ENGAGE International Investment Education Symposium.
	1100 ET	Treasury announces amount of 5-year TIPS (previous $16 billion) to be auctioned on Apr 21.
	1300 ET	Treasury auctions $12 billion of 30-year T-bonds.
EUR	0500 ET	Revised Eurozone Mar CPI, preliminary -0.1% y/y. Revised Mar core CPI, preliminary +1.0% y/y
UK	0700 ET	BOE announces interest rate decision and asset purchase target, expected no change to the 0.50% benchmark rate or to the 375-billion-pound asset purchase target.
CHI	2200 ET	China Mar industrial production expected +5.5% year-to-date y/y, Feb +5.4% year-to-date- y/y.
	2200 ET	China Q1 GDP expected +1.5% q/q and +6.7% y/y, Q4 +1.6% q/q and +6.8% y/y.
	2200 ET	China Mar retail sales expected +10.2% year-to-date y/y, Feb +10.2% year-to-date y/y.

U.S. STOCK CALENDAR04/14/2016

Company	Ticker	Time	Event Description	Period	Estimate
PNC Financial Services Group Inc/The	PNC US	Bef-mkt	Q1 2016 Earnings Release	Q1 2016	1.701
Progressive Corp/The	PGR US	Bef-mkt	Q1 2016 Earnings Release	Q1 2016	0.5
BlackRock Inc	BLK US	Bef-mkt	Q1 2016 Earnings Release	Q1 2016	4.294
Delta Air Lines Inc	DAL US	Bef-mkt	Q1 2016 Earnings Release	Q1 2016	1.295
First Republic Bank/CA	FRC US	Bef-mkt	Q1 2016 Earnings Release	Q1 2016	0.803
Bank of America Corp	BAC US	6:45	Q1 2016 Earnings Release	Q1 2016	0.205
Wells Fargo & Co	WFC US	8:00	Q1 2016 Earnings Release	Q1 2016	0.974
Carnival Corp	CCL US	8:30	Annual General Meeting	Y 2016
Bank of America Corp	BAC US	8:30	Q1 2016 Earnings Call	Q1 2016
BlackRock Inc	BLK US	8:30	Q1 2016 Earnings Call	Q1 2016
Wells Fargo & Co	WFC US	10:00	Q1 2016 Earnings Call	Q1 2016
Delta Air Lines Inc	DAL US	10:00	Q1 2016 Earnings Call	Q1 2016
First Republic Bank/CA	FRC US	10:00	Q1 2016 Earnings Call	Q1 2016
PNC Financial Services Group Inc/The	PNC US	10:30	Q1 2016 Earnings Call	Q1 2016
Wynn Resorts Ltd	WYNN US	12:00	Annual General Meeting	Y 2016
GameStop Corp	GME US	13:30	Investor Day	Y 2016
Equifax Inc	EFX US		Investor Meeting - Melbourne	Y 2016
Progressive Corp/The	PGR US		Q1 2016 Earnings Release - March Sales	Q1 2016	0.5
SM Energy Co	SM US		Q1 2016 Earnings Release	Q1 2016	-0.761
PacWest Bancorp	PACW US		Q1 2016 Earnings Release	Q1 2016	0.69
VCA Inc	WOOF US		Annual General Meeting