Morning Call For Friday, Nov. 17
OVERNIGHT MARKETS AND NEWS
Dec E-mini S&Ps (ESZ17 -0.06%) this morning are down 0.06% on concern Special Counsel Mueller's criminal investigation between Trump campaign officials and Russia is deepening. Two people familiar with the matter said officials with Trumps' election campaign were served subpoenas in mid-October for documents related to any contacts they had with Russian operatives. Losses were limited on optimism that U.S. legislators are closer to passing tax cuts after Republican Senator Johnson, who had opposed the Senate's tax plan, said he is optimistic his concerns can be addressed. European stocks are up +0.08% after ECB President Draghi said that "robust recovery" means the economy "may be becoming more resilient to new shocks." Asian stocks settled mixed: Japan +0.20%, Hong Kong +0.62%, China -0.48%, Taiwan +0.72%, Australia +0.23%, Singapore +1.23%, South Korea -0.05%, India +0.71%. China's Shanghai Composite fell to a 1-1/2 week low after the state media Xinhua warned some stock prices were climbing too fast, which triggered a selloff in the overall market. Xinhua said that shares of Kweichow Moutai, China's biggest liquor maker, should rise at a slower pace. Japan's Nikkei Stock index rose to a 1-week high after expectations of U.S. tax cuts improved, although the index gave up most of its gains after exporter stocks weakened when USD/JPY fell to a 4-week low.
The dollar index (DXY00 -0.24%) is down -0.20%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.20% after ECB President Draghi said as prices are gradually picking up, wage rises will follow and push inflation closer to the ECB's goal. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.40% at a 4-week low.
Dec 10-year T-note prices (ZNZ17 +0.03%) are little changed, down -0.5 of a tick.
San Francisco Fed President Williams said the economy continues to grow "very nicely," and U.S. is in a period of "relative calm." He added that in his view "a perfectly reasonable path for policy would be one more rate increase this year and three next year."
ECB President Draghi said that "robust recovery" means the economy "may be becoming more resilient to new shocks" and as prices are gradually picking up, wage rises will follow and push inflation closer to the ECB's goal.
U.S. STOCK PREVIEW
Key U.S. news today includes: (1) Oct housing starts (expected +5.6% to 1.190 million, Sep -4.7% to 1.127 million), (2) Nov Kansas City Fed manufacturing activity index (expected -2 to 21, Oct +6 to 23), (3) USDA Oct Cattle on Feed.
Notable Russell 2000 earnings reports today include: Foot Locker (consensus $0.80).
U.S. IPO's scheduled to price today: none.
Equity conferences during the remainder of this week: Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Energy Conference on Thu-Fri, Gabelli & Co Financial Services Conference on Fri.
OVERNIGHT U.S. STOCK MOVERS
Applied Materials (AMAT +3.71%) gained almost 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 93 cents, better than consensus of 90 cents, and then said it sees Q1 adjusted EPS of 94 cents to $1.02, well above consensus of 91 cents.
Williams-Sonoma (WSM +4.12%) dropped almost 8% in after-hours trading after it said it sees Q4 EPS of $1.49 to $1.64, weaker than consensus of $1.65.
Ross Stores (ROST +1.67%) rose over 8% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 EPS of 72 cents, higher than consensus of 67 cents, and then raised guidance on full-year EPS to $3.24 to $3.28 from a prior view of $3.07 to $3.17, better than consensus of $3.23.
Twenty-First Century Fox (FOXA +2.05%) rallied nearly 6% in after-hours trading after Comcast and Verizon were both exploring acquiring parts of Fox.
Splunk (SPLK +2.32%) jumped 12% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 revenue of $328.7 million, higher than consensus of $309 million, and then said it sees full-year revenue of $1.24 billion, above consensus of $1.22 billion.
REV Group (REVG +2.19%) was initiated at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey with a 'Buy' rating and a 12-month target price target of $33.
The Gap (GPS +2.16%) rallied almost 7% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 58 cents, better than consensus of 54 cents, and then raised its full-year adjusted EPS forecast to $2.08 to $2.12 from a prior view of $2.02 to $2.10, above consensus of $2.05.
Shoe Carnival (SCVL +4.99%) surged 17% in after-hours trading after it boosted its annual sales outlook to $1.020 to $1.025 billion from a prior forecast of $1.006 billion to $1.019 billion.
Time (TIME +28.06%) climbed almost 4% in after-hours trading after the WSJ reported that Meredith has made a takeover bid for Time in the range of $17 to $20 a share.
Milacron Holdings (MCRN +1.82%) slid nearly 3% in after-hours trading after it announced a secondary offering of 13.09 million shares of common stock by selling shareholders.
Sportsman’s Warehouse Holdings (SPWH +0.51%) dropped 7% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 23 cents, below consensus of 24 cents, and then said it sees full-year adjusted EPS of 56 cents to 59 cents, weaker than consensus of 63 cents.
Viveve Medical (VIVE +1.05%) was initiated at Mizuho Securities USA with a 'Buy' rating and a 12-month target price of $10.
MARKET COMMENTS
Dec S&P 500 E-mini stock futures (ESZ17 -0.06%) this morning are down -1.50 points (-0.06%). Thursday's closes: S&P 500 +0.82%, Dow Jones +0.80%, Nasdaq +1.29%. The S&P 500 on Thursday closed higher on strength in technology stocks led by a 6% earnings-related jump in Cisco Systems. Stocks were also boosted by the +1.3% increase in U.S. Oct manufacturing production, stronger than expectations of +0.6% and the biggest increase in 6 months. There was also strength in homebuilder stocks after the U.S. Nov NAHB housing market index unexpectedly rose +2 to 70, stronger than expectations of -1 to 67 and an 8-month high.
Dec 10-year T-note prices (ZNZ17 +0.03%) this morning are down -0.5 of a tick. Thursday's closes: TYZ7 -6.00, FVZ7 -3.75. Dec 10-year T-notes on Thursday closed lower on the rebound in stocks, which curbed safe-haven demand for T-notes, and on the stronger-than-expected U.S. Oct manufacturing production report and Nov NAHB housing market index.
The dollar index (DXY00 -0.24%) this morning is down -0.187 (-0.20%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.0023 (+0.20%) and USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.45 (-0.40%) at a 4-week low. Thursday's closes: Dollar Index +0.119 (+0.13%), EUR/USD -0.0021 (-0.18%), USD/JPY +0.18 (+0.16%). The dollar index on Thursday closed higher on weakness in EUR/USD after ECB Executive Board member Praet said inflation developments are subdued despite solid growth. The dollar was also supported by the larger-than-expected +1.6% increase in U.S. Oct manufacturing production, the biggest gain in 6 months.
Dec crude oil (CLZ17 +1.61%) this morning is up +$1.03 a barrel (+1.87%) and Dec gasoline (RBZ17 +0.81%)is +0.0176 (+1.03%). Thursday's closes: Dec WTI crude -0.19 (-0.34%), Dec gasoline -0.0251 (-1.44%). Dec crude oil and gasoline on Thursday closed lower with Dec gasoline at a 2-week low. Crude oil prices were undercut by a stronger dollar and the decline in the crack spread to a 3-week low, which reduces the incentive for refineries to purchase crude to refine into gasoline. Crude oil prices were supported by U.A.E. Minister of Energy Suhail Al Mazrouei's comment that his country favors extending OPEC and non-OPEC crude productions cuts beyond March to help rebalance the global oil market.
Metals prices this morning are higher with Dec gold (GCZ17 +0.38%) +4.7 (+0.37%), Dec silver (SIZ17 +0.13%) +0.008 (+0.05%) and Dec copper (HGZ17 +0.36%) +0.015 (+0.49%). Thursday's closes: Dec gold +0.5 (+0.04%), Dec silver +0.101 (+0.60%), Dec copper -0.0065 (-0.21%). Metals on Thursday settled mixed. Metals prices were supported by fund buying of gold as long gold positions in gold ETFs rose to a 3-week high on Wednesday. Copper prices fell after China Oct refined copper output rose +6.3% y/y to 781,000 MT, which may curb Chinese import demand for copper.
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Disclosure: None.