Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Thursday Watch

Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
  • Chinese Traders Return to More Bullish Markets After Holiday. The world is looking a better place for China’s investors as the nation’s financial markets reopen following a week-long break. Global equities have rebounded during the Lunar New Year holidays as the fear of faster inflation ebbed. Hong Kong stock gauges are among the world’s best performers, with the Hang Seng Index rallying 3 percent. The offshore yuan -- which traded during the break -- strengthened past the onshore rate.
  • Asia Stocks Slip With U.S. Futures, Dollar Gains. (video) Asian stocks declined with U.S. equity index futures as investors adjust to the Federal Reserve’s latest comments on the economy. The dollar jumped alongside Treasury yields. Futures on the S&P 500 Index slipped after a rally fizzled Wednesday following minutes from the Fed’s January meeting showing increasing confidence that economic growth will pick up steam despite its concerns around inflation. Stocks opened lower in Japan and South Korea, with traders in Chinese markets due to return after a holiday. Japan’s Topix index fell 0.8 percent as of 9:24 a.m. in Tokyo and South Korea’s Kospi index retreated 0.7 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index was little changed. Futures on the S&P 500 slid 0.2 percent. The gauge lost 0.6 percent on Wednesday. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 0.5 percent.
Wall Street Journal:
MarketWatch.com: 
CNBC:
Business Insider:
Night Trading 
  • Asian equity indices are -1.0% to +.5% on average.
  • Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 70.50 +1.0 basis point
  • Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 12.75 +.25 basis point.
  • Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 75.37 -.05%.
  • FTSE 100 futures -.97%.
  • S&P 500 futures -.48%.
  • NASDAQ 100 futures -.71%.
Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate

  • (APA)/.25
  • (AAWW)/2.15
  • (BLMN)/.39
  • (CHK)/.25
  • (HRL)/.44
  • (MGA)/1.56
  • (NEM)/.37
  • (PWR)/.44
  • (SAGE)/-2.01
  • (SAFM)/1.17
  • (SFM)/.15
  • (TK)/-.24
  • (TTC)/.44
  • (VC)/1.69
  • (CTRP)/.16
  • (FSLR)/-.30
  • (HLF)/.98
  • (HPQ)/.42
  • (INTU)/.34
  • (MELI)/.55
  • (RRGB)/.54
  • (RDFN)/-.05
  • (RH)/1.54
  • (OLED)/.84
  • (WING)/.16
  • (ZOES)/-.12
Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
  • Initial Jobless Claims for last week are estimated at 230K versus 230K the prior week.
  • Continuing Claims are estimated to fall to 1935K versus 1942K the prior week.
10:00 am EST
  • The Leading Index for January is estimated to rise +.7% versus a +.6% gain in December.
11:00 am EST
  • Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Activity for February is estimated to rise to 18.0 versus 16.0 in January.
  • Bloomberg consensus estimates call for a weekly crude oil inventory build of +2,354,700 barrels versus a +1,841,000 barrel gain the prior week. Gasoline supplies are estimated to rise by +742,200 barrels versus a +3,599,000 barrel gain the prior week. Distillate inventories are estimated to fall by -1,093,600 barrels versus a -459,000 barrel decline the prior week. Finally, Refinery Utilization is estimated to fall by -.8% versus a -2.7% decline prior.
Upcoming Splits
  • None of note
Other Potential Market Movers
  • The Fed's Quarles speaking, Fed's Dudley speaking, Fed's Bostic speaking, Japan CPI report, Germany IFO Business Climate Index, weekly EIA natural gas inventory report and the $29B 7Y T-Note auction could also impact trading today.
BOTTOM LINE:  Asian indices are mostly lower, weighed down by commodity and industrial shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly lower and to maintain losses into the afternoon.  The Portfolio is 25% net long heading into the day.

No comments: