Morning Call For Wednesday, Dec. 6
OVERNIGHT MARKETS AND NEWS
Dec E-mini S&Ps (ESZ17 -0.13%) this morning are down -0.12% as U.S. lawmakers need to come up with a spending bill by Friday to prevent a partial shutdown of the government. The most likely scenario is an extension of the government shutdown deadline until December 22. Weakness in energy stocks is undercutting the overall market with Jan WTI crude oil (CLF18 -1.27%) down -1.20% after the API late yesterday reported a +9.2 million bbl surge in U.S. gasoline inventories last week. European stocks are down -0.76% on negative carry-over from a decline in Asian markets as technology stocks sold-off. European stocks fell even after German Oct factory orders unexpectedly increased, a sign of economic strength in the Eurozone. Asian stocks settled lower: Japan -1.97%, Hong Kong -2.14%, China -0.29%, Taiwan -1.64%, Australia -0.44%, Singapore -1.19%, South Korea -1.54%, India -0.63%. Asian markets moved lower, led by losses in electronics makers and auto producers, as China's Shanghai Composite posted a 3-1/2 month low and Japan's Nikkei Stock Index slid to a 2-1/2 week low.
The dollar index (DXY00 +0.03%) is up +0.03%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.13%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.36%.
Mar 10-year T-note prices (ZNH18 +0.14%) are up +4.5 ticks.
German Oct factory orders unexpectedly rose +0.5% m/m, stronger than expectations of -0.2% m/m.
ECB Executive Board member Mersch said the ECB faces the risk of keeping its monetary policy too accommodative for too long as "the recovery in the Eurozone continues to develop robustly and employment has increased markedly. Wages, as well as underlying inflation, seem to have made a trend reversal."
U.S. STOCK PREVIEW
Key U.S. news today includes: (1) weekly MBA mortgage applications (previous -3.1% with purchase sub-index +1.8% and refi sub-index -7.7%), (2) Nov ADP employment (expected +190,000, Oct +235,000), (3) revised Q3 non-farm productivity (expected +3.3%, previous +3.0%) and revised Q3 unit labor costs (expected +0.2%, previous +0.5%), (4) EIA weekly Petroleum Status Report.
Notable Russell 1000 earnings reports today include: John Wiley (consensus $0.84), H&R Block (-0.72), Brown-Forman (0.53), Broadcom (4.52), Lululemon Athletica (0.51), Keysight Technologies (0.65).
U.S. IPO's scheduled to price today: none.
Equity conferences this week: Raymond James Technology Conference on Mon-Wed, UBS Global Media and Communications Conference on Mon-Wed, Wells Fargo Event Information & Logistics Tech Summit on Mon-Wed, Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference on Tue-Wed, Barclays Eat, Sleep, Play Conference on Tue-Wed, Nasdaq Investor Conference on Tue-Wed, NASDAQ Conference on Tue-Wed, Capital One Securities Energy Conference on Tue-Thu, Barclays Technology Conference on Wed, Berenberg Bank European Healthcare Conference on Wed, BIOMEDevice Conference on Wed, Barclays Global Technology, Media and Telecommunications Conference on Wed-Thu, Wells Fargo Pipeline MLP and Energy Symposium on Wed-Thu, Citi Global Health Care Conference on Wed-Thu, th Capital Utah Corporate Access Event Conference on Wed-Thu, Bank of America Merrill Lynch Emerging Technology Conference on Thu.
OVERNIGHT U.S. STOCK MOVERS
AutoZone (AZO +0.42%) was downgraded to 'Neutral' from 'Buy' at Guggenheim Securities.
Brown & Brown (BRO -1.13%) was upgraded to 'Buy' from 'Hold' at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.
Veeva Systems (VEEV +0.91%) rose nearly 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 25 cents, above consensus of 22 cents, and then said it sees full-year adjusted EPS of 91 cents, better than consensus of 87 cents.
Clovis Oncology (CLVS -2.73%) gained 2% in after-hours trading after it said it was granted priority view by the FDA on positive data from the Phase 3ARIEL3 clinical trial in which its rucaparib showed significant improved PMS in all ovarian cancer patients populations studied.
HealthEquity (HQY -0.76%) lost 1% in after-hours trading after it said it sees full-year revenue of $225 million to $228 million, the mid-point below consensus of $227.1 million.
AeroVironment (AVAV -1.70%) surged 20% in after-hours trading after it reported an unexpected Q2 EPS profit of 29 cents, better than consensus for a loss of -6 cents.
Revance Therapeutics (RVNC +33.65%) fell 2% in after-hours trading after it announced a proposed underwritten public offering of $175 million in shares of its common stock.
Dave & Buster's Entertainment (PLAY -2.15%) jumped 5% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 27 cents, higher than consensus of 23 cents.
Tronox Ltd (TROX -1.20%) slid 6% in after-hours trading after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission issued an administrative complaint challenging Tronox's acquisition of Cristal's titanium dioxide business, saying the deal would violate antitrust laws.
AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC +1.05%) rallied over 3% in after-hours trading after the CEO told CNBC that the company received six approaches for investment over the past 90 days.
Funko (FNKO -4.22%) rose over 5% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted Ebitda of $27 million, higher than consensus of $24.2 million.
Snap (SNAP +10.10%) lost almost 2% in after-hours trading after Evercore ISI initiated coverage of the stock with a recommendation of 'Underperform' with a 12-month target price of $7.
Bill Barrett Corp (BBG -3.87%) dropped 7% in after-hours trading after it offered 21 million shares of common stock via JPMorgan at $5.00-$5.20 a share.
Liquidity Services (LQDT -1.71%) plunged 16% in after-hours trading after it reported a Q4 adjusted loss per share of -33cents, wider than consensus of -26 cents.
MARKET COMMENTS
Dec S&P 500 E-mini stock futures (ESZ17 -0.13%) this morning are down -3.25 points (-0.12%). Tuesday's closes: S&P 500 -0.37%, Dow Jones -0.45%, Nasdaq +0.02%. The S&P 500 on Tuesday closed lower on the -2.7 point decline in the U.S. Nov ISM non-manufacturing index to 57.4 (weaker than expectations of -1.1 to 59.0) and on the 9-month high in the U.S. Oct trade deficit of -$48.7 billion, which had negative implications for U.S. Q4 GDP.
Mar 10-year T-note prices (ZNH18 +0.14%) this morning are up +4.5 ticks. Tuesday's closes: TYH8 +3.00, FVH8 -1.00. Mar 10-year T-notes on Tuesday closed higher on the sell-off in stocks, the weaker-than-expected U.S. Nov ISM non-manufacturing index, and the 9-month high in the U.S. Oct trade deficit that was negative for U.S. Q4 GDP.
The dollar index (DXY00 +0.03%) this morning is up +0.026 (+0.03%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.0015 (-0.13%) and USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.40 (-0.36%). Tuesday's closes: Dollar Index +0.191 (+0.20%), EUR/USD -0.0040 (-0.34%), USD/JPY +0.19 (+0.17%). The dollar index on Tuesday closed higher on weakness in EUR/USD which fell to a 1-week low after Eurozone Oct retail sales fell -1.1% m/m, the biggest decline in 3-3/4 years, which was dovish for ECB monetary policy. The dollar was also underpinned by unanimous expectations for a Fed rate hike at next week's FOMC meeting.
Jan crude oil (CLF18 -1.27%) this morning is down -69 cents (-1.20%) and Jan gasoline (RBF18 -1.08%) is -0.0242 (-1.41%). Tuesday's closes: Jan WTI crude +0.15 (+0.26%), Jan gasoline +0.0262 (+1.55%). Jan crude oil and gasoline on Tuesday closed higher on reduced OPEC crude output after OPEC Nov oil production fell by -80,000 bpd to a 6-month low of 32.47 million bpd, and by expectations for Wednesday's EIA crude inventories to decline by -2.5 million bbl. Crude oil prices were undercut by a stronger dollar.
Metals prices this morning are higher with Feb gold (GCG18 +0.28%) +5.2 (+1.41%), Mar silver (SIH18 +0.17%) +0.052 (+0.32%) and Mar copper (HGH18 +0.95%) +0.030 (+1.00%). Tuesday's closes: Feb gold -12.8 (-1.09%), Mar silver -0.305(-1.86%), Mar copper -0.01440 (-4.66%). Metals on Tuesday closed lower with Feb gold at a 3-3/4 month low and Mar copper at a 2-month low. Metals prices were undercut by a stronger dollar and by fund selling in gold on the likelihood of a Fed rate hike at next week's FOMC meeting.
Disclosure: None.