Morning Call For Friday, August 25

OVERNIGHT MARKETS AND NEWS

Sep E-mini S&Ps (ESU17 +0.25%) this morning are up +0.24 and European stocks are up +0.29% ahead of speeches later today from Fed Chair Yellen and ECB President Draghi at the Kansas City Fed's annual symposium in Jackson Hole, WY. A +0.43% rally in Sep COMEX copper (HGU17 +0.53%) to a new 2-3/4 year nearest-futures high is boosting mining stocks and is leading the overall market higher. Signs of tighter copper supplies has spurred fund buying of copper after LME copper inventories today fell -4,225 MT to 240,825 MT, a 5-1/2 month low. Oct ROB gasoline (RBV17 +2.07%) is up +1.69% at a 4-1/2 month high after Hurricane Harvey strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane and threatens the U.S. Gulf Coast, home to as much as half of the nation's refining capacity. A positive for European stocks was the stronger-than-expected German corporate confidence as the German Aug IFO business climate fell less than expected. Asian stocks settled mostly higher: Japan +0.51%, Hong Kong +1.20%, China +1.83%, Taiwan +0.25%, Australia -0.03%, Singapore -0.38%, South Korea +0.15%, India closed for holiday. China's Shanghai Composite rallied to a 1-1/2 year high on strong quarterly earnings from Chinese companies along with optimism the government will push ahead with plans to make enterprises more efficient. Deflation concerns remain in Japan after Japan's Jul national CPI ex-fresh food rose +0.5% y/y, right on expectations and the fastest pace of increase n 2-1/3 years, but still well below the BOJ's 2.0% target.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.13%) is down -0.13%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.19%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.11%.

Sep 10-year T-note prices (ZNU17 -0.04%) are down -1 tick.

Japan Jul national CPI rose +0.4% y/y, right on expectations. Jul national CPI ex fresh food rose +0.5% y/y, right on expectations and the fastest pace of increase n 2-1/3 years. Jul national CPI ex fresh food & energy rose +0.1% y/y, right on expectations.

The German Aug IFO business climate fell -0.1 to 115.9, stronger than expectations of -0.5 to 115.5.

U.S. STOCK PREVIEW

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) Jul durable goods orders (expected -6.0% and +0.4% ex transportation, Jun +6.4% and +0.1% ex transportation), (2) Fed Chair Janet Yellen speaks at the Kansas City Fed’s Jackson Hole, WY, symposium, (3) ECB President Mario Draghi speaks at the Kansas City Fed’s Jackson Hole, WY, symposium, (4) USDA Jul Cattle on Feed.

Notable Russell 1000 earnings reports today include: Big Lots (consensus $0.62).

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

Equity conferences this week: none.

OVERNIGHT U.S. STOCK MOVERS

Starbucks (SBUX -0.26%) was upgraded to 'Outperform' from 'Neutral' at Wedbush with a price target of $60.

Autodesk (ADSK -0.04%) gained almost 3% in after-hours trading after it was rated a new 'Buy' at Berenberg with a price target of $136.

Quintiles IMS Holdings (Q +1.06%) rallied 3% in after-hours trading after it was announced that it will replace Whole Foods Market in the S&P 500 before the open of trading on Tuesday, August 29.

Twitter (TWTR -0.41%) fell over 1% in after-hours trading after it was downgraded to 'Hold' from 'Buy' at Jeffries.

Broadcom (AVGO -0.73%) slid nearly 3% in after-hours trading after RBC Capital Markets said a "largely in line" earnings report reflects a lack of "upside."

Ulta Beauty (ULTA +0.71%) fell over 3% in after-hours trading after it forecast Q3 EPS of $1.63-$1.68, the midpoint below consensus of $1.67.

Splunk (SPLK -0.08%) jumped 8% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 revenue of $280 million, above consensus of $268.7 million, and then said it sees Q3 revenue of $307 million-$309 million, better than consensus of $306.9 million.

OSI Systems (OSIS +0.58%) rose over 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of $1.02, better than consensus of 94 cents, and then forecast full-year sales of $1.04 billion-$1.08 billion, well above consensus of $1.0 billion

VMware (VMW +0.44%) rallied 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS of $1.19, at eh top of its preliminary forecast of $1.15-$1.19.

Pure Storage (PSTG -0.79%) climbed over 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 revenue of $224.5 million, higher than consensus of $218.4 million, and then said it sees Q3 revenue of $267 million-$275 million, the midpoint above consensus of $269.6 million,

Urban Outfitters (URBN +2.30%) rose 5% in after-hours trading after its board approved the buyback of an additional 20 million shares of the company's stock for its buyback program.

Marvell Technology (MRVL -0.19%) gained over 1% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS continuing operations of 30 cents, better than consensus of 28 cents, and then said it sees Q3 adjusted gross margin of 61%-62%, the midpoint above consensus of 61.1%.

Adamas Pharmaceuticals (ADMS -1.11%) surged over 30% in after-hours trading after its Gocovri drug won FDA approval for treatment of dyskinesia in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Platinum Specialty Products (PAH -4.81%) rose nearly 5% in after-hours trading after it announced its intention to separate its Agriculture Solutions and Performance Solutions into two public companies.

MARKET COMMENTS

Sep S&P 500 E-mini stock futures (ESU17 +0.25%) this morning are up +5.75 points (+0.24%). Thursday's closes: S&P 500 -0.21%, Dow Jones -0.13%, Nasdaq -0.30%. The S&P 500 on Thursday closed lower on the -1.3% decline in U.S. Jul existing home sales to 5.44 million, weaker than expectations of +0.5% to 5.55 million and an 11-month low. There was also weakness in energy stocks as crude oil fell -2.02%.

Sep 10-year T-note prices (ZNU17 -0.04%) this morning are down -1 tick. Thursday's closes: TYU7 -7.50, FVU7 -4.25. Sep 10-year T-notes on Thursday closed lower on the smaller-than-expected increase in U.S. weekly jobless claims and on comments from Kansas City Fed President George who said she continues to favor another interest-rate increase this year and that the Fed can start shrinking its balance sheet.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.13%) this morning is down -0.118 (-0.13%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.0023 (+0.19%) and USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.12 (+0.11%). Thursday's closes: Dollar Index +0.13 (+0.14%), EUR/USD -0.0008 (-0.07%), USD/JPY +0.52 (+0.48%). The dollar index on Thursday closed higher on hawkish comments by Kansas City Fed President George who said she favors another Fed rate hike this year. There was also some short-covering in the dollar ahead of Friday's comments from Fed Chair Yellen at the Fed symposium in Jackson Hole, WY.

Oct crude oil (CLV17 +0.63%) this morning is up +33 cents (+0.70%) and Oct gasoline (RBV17 +2.07%) is up +0.0262 (+1.69%) at a 4-1/2 month high. Thursday's closes: Oct WTI crude -0.98 (-2.02%), Oct gasoline +0.0203 (+1.33%). Oct crude and gasoline on Thursday settled mixed with Oct gasoline at a 2-week high. Crude oil prices were undercut by a stronger dollar and by concern that the global oil glut will persist after EIA data Wednesday showed U.S. crude production in the week of Aug 18 rose +0.3% to 9.528 million bpd, a 2-year high. Gasoline rallied on supply concerns as Hurricane Harvey is expected to strike the Texas Gulf Coast, which will force refiners to close and limit gasoline production.

Metals prices this morning are higher with Dec gold (GCZ17 +0.02%) +0.9 (+0.07%), Sep silver (SIU17 +0.31%) +0.077 (+0.45%) and Sep copper (HGU17 +0.53%) +0.013 (+0.43%). Thursday's closes: Dec gold -2.7 (-0.21%), Sep silver -0.083 (-0.49%), Sep copper +0.0535 (+1.79%). Metals on Thursday settled mixed with Sep silver at a 1-week low and Sep copper at a new 2-3/4 nearest-futures high. Metals prices were undercut by a stronger dollar and by long liquidation in precious metals ahead of Fed Chair Yellen's speech Friday in Jackson Hole. Copper rallied on signs of tighter supplies after LME copper inventories fell -4,475 MT to 245,050 MT, a 1-3/4 month low.

(Click on image to enlarge)

 

Disclosure: None.

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Mustapha Maalej 6 years ago Member's comment

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Bill Johnson 6 years ago Member's comment

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