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| | US Market | | The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Tuesday, with sentiment suggesting strength. Global cues are encouraging and an economic report released earlier in the day showed that the housing market recovery is still intact. Building permits rose strongly, while housing starts unexpectedly fell, although there was an upward revision to the previous month's reading. With the Russia's Vladimir Putin allayed geopolitical fears by suggesting that he is not seeking to splinter Ukraine. Although the tone of the markets is positive, consolidation is the most likely move, given the absence of any other compelling catalysts.
U.S. stocks advanced on Monday, as geopolitical concerns eased and economic data turned out to be fairly benign. The major averages opened higher after separate reports showed a slower than expected pace of expansion by the New York manufacturing sector but stronger than expected industrial output growth. After a short rally in early trading, the averages moved roughly sideways for the rest of the session before closing higher.
The Dow Jones Industrials added 181.55 points or 1.13 percent before closing at 16,247, the S&P 500 Index ended up 34.55 points or 0.81 percent at 4,280 and the Nasdaq Composite Index closed 17.70 points or 0.96 percent higher at 1,859.
All thirty of The Dow components advanced, with Disney ,United Technologies ,IBM ,Boeing and 3M Co. leading the way higher.
Airline, Oil service, semiconductor, computer hardware and financial stocks saw significant strength, while Gold stocks retreated sharply.
On the economic front, the Federal Reserve reported that industrial production rose 0.6 percent month-over-month in February, bouncing back from a revised 0.2 percent drop in the previous month. Manufacturing output rose a solid 0.8 percent, helped by a 4.8 percent jump in the output of motor vehicles/part. Capacity utilization rose 0.3 points to 78.8 percent.
The National Association of Home Buildrs released the results of its homebuilder survey, which showed that homebuilder confidence improved by less than expected in March. The housing market index rose 1 point to 47 in March following a 10 point plunge in February. The present sales conditions index only 1 point and the index measuring prospective buyer traffic climbed 2 points to 33, while the sales outlook index eased by 1 point.
The results of a survey by the New York Federal Reserve showed that business conditions in the region continued to expand in March. The business conditions index rose to 5.61 from 4.48 in February. Economists expected a faster rate of expansion. The new orders index moved into positive territory, rising to 3.13 from -0.12, and the shipments index moved up to 3.97 from 2.13.
However, the unfilled orders index retreated further to -16.47 from -6.25. The employment indexes were mixed, with the number of employees index dropping to 5.88 from 11.25, while the average workweek index rose to 4.71 from 3.75. Meanwhile, the 6-month outlook index also suggested expansion, although at a slower rate than in the previous month. |
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| | US Economic Reports |  | | CADUSD | Oil | Gold | Allbanc |  |  |  |  | | Please click on the images to view our interactive charts | | | With an increase in food prices offsetting a drop in energy prices, the Labor Department released a report showing a modest increase in U.S. consumer prices in the month of February.
The Labor Department said its consumer price index edged up by 0.1 percent in February, matching the increase seen in January. The uptick in prices also matched economist estimates.
After reporting a Sharp drop in new residential construction in the previous month, The Commerce Department released a report showing that housing starts unexpectedly saw some further downside in the month of February.
The report said housing starts dipped 0.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 907,000 in February after plunging 11.2 percent to the revised January estimate of 909,000. The modest decrease came as a surprise to economists, who had expected housing starts to climb to 910,000 from the 880,000 originally reported for the previous month. Meanwhile, building permits jumped 7.7 percent to an annual rate of 1.018 million in February from the revised January rate of 945,000.
The Treasury will release data that track the flows of financial instruments into and out of the U.S. at 9 am ET. |
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| | Stocks in Focus | | | | FTSE 100 | Euronext | Dax perf | CAC 40 |  |  |  |  | | Please click on the images to view our interactive charts | | | FactSet (FDS) reported better than expected second quarter results and guidance third quarter earnings in line.
Hertz Global reported a narrower loss for the fourth quarter, as revenues grew about 10 percent mainly due to acquisition of Dollar Thrifty. However, the company's adjusted earnings per share as well as revenues missed analysts' expectations. The firm also forecast adjusted earnings per share for first quarter and full year 2014 below estimates.
Separately, Hertz said its board approved plans to separate Hertz car and equipment rental businesses into two independent, publicly traded companies. In addition, the board approved a new share repurchase program totaling $1 billion which replaces the existing program.
Choice Hotels (CHH) announced that certain selling stockholders have agreed to sell 3 million shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering.
First Republic Bank announced that it has agreed to see 3.5 million shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering.
American Express announced that it has signed an agreement to create a joint venture with an investor group led by Certares for its Global Business Travel division, or GBT. American Express intends to separate its GBT operations into a dedicated holding structure, with the company holding a 50 percent stake in the unit while selling the remaining 50 percent stake to the investor group for $900 million.
Adobe Systems , Oracle and Pacific Sunwear are among the companies due to release their quarterly results after the close of trading. |
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| | European Market | | European stocks opened lower and have mostly been languishing below the unchanged line since then amid very little corporate news flow.
On the economic front, the German Federal Statistical Office reported that German wholesale prices decreased at the fastest annual rate in four months during February. The wholesale price index declined 1.8 percent year-over-year after falling 1.7 percent in January. On a month-over-month basis, wholesale prices dropped 0.1 percent, the same pace as in January.
The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association revealed that passenger car sales in Europe increased for the sixth consecutive month in February, advancing 8 percent on an annual basis to 861,058 units in February, which was faster than the 5.5 percent growth recorded in January. |
| | Asian Markets | | | | USDCAD | USDEUR | USDGBP | USDJPY |  |  |  |  | | Please click on the images to view our interactive charts | | | Most Asian markets closed higher, encouraged by the positive lead from Wall Street overnight. The Japanese and the New Zealand markets advanced strongly, while the Indonesian markets slipped.
The return of risk appetite weakened the yen, which sent Japanese export stocks higher. Japan's Nikkei 225 opened higher and moved roughly sideways for the rest of the session. The index ended up 133.60 points or 0.94 percent at 14,411. The market witnessed broad based strength, with resource and export stocks leading the way higher.
Australia's All Ordinaries hovered above the unchanged line throughout the session before closing up 25 points or 0.47 percent at 5,360. Most sectors saw modest strength.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed at 21,584, up 109.55 points or 0.51 percent, and China's Shanghai Composite Index ended 1.52 points or 0.08 percent higher at 2,025.
On the economic front, the minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia's March meeting showed that the central bank may keep its benchmark interest rate steady indefinitely. The members said that the benchmark rate could be maintained for "some time" as long as it was warranted by the economic conditions.
China's foreign direct investment increased notably in the first two months of the year, according to data published by the Ministry of Commerce. Total foreign direct investment, excluding investments in financial sectors, advanced 10.44 percent year-over-year to $19.3 billion in the January-February period. |
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| | Currency and Commodities Markets | | Crude Oil futures are declining $0.09 to $97.99 a barrel after retreating $0.81 to $98.08 a barrel on Monday due to supply concerns. Gold futures are currently-trading up $13.10 at $1,360 an ounce. In the previous session, Gold fell $6.10 to $1,372.90 an ounce.
Among currencies, the U.S. dollar is trading at 101.65 yen compared to the 101.77 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.3917 compared to yesterday's $1.3922.
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