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| | US Market |  | | NYSE | AMEX | Dow Jones | Nasdaq |  |  |  |  | | Please click on the images to view our interactive charts | | | The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a roughly flat opening on Thursday, as oil continues to move about in a volatile manner. After ending the previous session higher, black gold is lower along with silver futures, although the rest of the commodities are firmer. Asian stocks had a strong session, although private sector activity data from Japan and China disappointed. The European markets are showing a lack of direction, with weaker private sector activity data weighing on the markets. A domestic report released short while ago showed an unexpected increase in jobless claims. The service sector activity data due shortly after the markets open may also guide the markets.
U.S. stocks finished a lackluster session on a positive note on Wednesday, as oil kept the upward move intact and domestic private payrolls data came in better than expected.
The major averages opened lower and moved back and forth across the unchanged line in a broad range, although remaining mostly below the unchanged line. However, the averages moved decisively higher in late trading and ended modestly higher.
The Dow Industrials ended up 34.24 points or 0.20 percent at 16,899, the S&P 500 Index closed 8.10 points or 0.41 percent higher at 1,987 and the Nasdaq Composite ended at 4,703, up 13.83 points or 0.29 percent. The averages all reached their best closing levels in almost two months.
Seventeen of the thirty Dow components closed higher for the session, with Chevron (CVX), Exxon Mobil (XOM), General Electric (GE), IBM (IBM), Merck (MRK), Procter & Gamble (PG) and Verizon (VZ) leading the gains. On the other hand, DuPont (DD) and Nike (NKE) fell steeply.
Among the sectors, airline, biotechnology, energy, gold and banking stocks gained ground.
On the economic front, ADP's private payrolls report showed that the private sector added 214,000 jobs in February compared to the downwardly revised increase of 193,000 jobs in January. Economists expected job growth of 185,000 for February.
The Federal Reserve's Beige Book showed that economic activity in the twelve Fed districts expanded. Most districts reported increases in consumer spending. Even as non-financial services activity grew slightly, manufacturing was flat. Residential as well as non-residential activity improved. The book reported continued improvement in labor market conditions and steady consumer prices. |
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| | US Economic Reports | | | | CADUSD | Oil | Gold | Allbanc |  |  |  |  | | Please click on the images to view our interactive charts | | | The Labor Department reported that jobless claims rose 6,000 to 278,000 in the week ended February 27th compared to the unrevised reading of 272,000 for the previous week. Economists expected jobless claims to have declined to 270,000.
The four-week average fell by 1,750 to 270,250. Meanwhile, continuing claims calculated with a week's lag rose to 2.257 million in the week ended February 20th from 2.254 million in the week ended February 13th.
The Labor Department released its revised fourth quarter non-farm productivity report showing a 2.2 percent sequential drop in non-farm productivity for the quarter. The consensus estimate had called for a 3.2 percent decline.
Meanwhile, unit labor costs rose a less than expected 3.3 percent, less than the 4.5 percent increase expected by economists. Hours worked increased 3.2 percent and real hourly compensation was up 0.9 percent.
At 9:45 am ET, Markit is due to release its revised U.S. service sector PMI for February. Economists expect the index to come in at 53.2 for the month.
The Commerce Department is scheduled to release its factory orders data for January at 10 am ET. Economists expect factory orders to have increased by 2 percent month-over-month.
In December, factory orders fell 2.9 percent, with a 5 percent drop in durable goods orders acting as a drag.
Meanwhile, durable goods orders, which account for the bulk of factory orders, rose a bigger than expected 4.9 percent in January. Annually, orders were up 1.8 percent. Excluding transportation, orders were still up a solid 1.8 percent. Core capital goods orders rose 3.9 percent. Shipments climbed 1.9 percent and unfilled orders edged up 0.1 percent.
Also at 10 am ET, the Institute for Supply Management is set to release the results of its non-manufacturing survey for February. The service sector PMI is expected to edge down to 53.1 from 53.5 in January.
In December, the non-manufacturing index unexpectedly fell 2.3 points to 53.5, but a reading above 50 still indicates growth.
The business activity index declined 5.6 points to 53.9, the new orders index slipped 2.4 points to 56.5 and the employment index moved down 4.2 points to 52.1. Meanwhile, the order backlogs index rose 2 points to 52. Ten of the non-manufacturing industries reported growth.
Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Rob Kaplan is due to speak on monetary policy in Austin, Texas, at 10:45 am ET.
The Treasury Department is set to make announcements concerning next week's auctions of 3-year and 10-year notes and 30-year bonds at 11 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 | | | Semtech's (SMTC) fourth quarter results were better than expected and it issued upbeat guidance for its first quarter.
Kroger (KR) reported better than expected fourth quarter earnings per share but its revenues were shy of estimates.
Costco (COST) reported second quarter earnings per share and revenues that missed estimates. Comparable store sales, excluding the impact of gasoline price inflation and foreign exchange, in the U.S. rose 4 percent in February.
American Eagle (AEO) reported in line fourth quarter earnings per share and its first quarter earnings per share guidance was positive.
QuickLogic (QUIK) lowered its first quarter revenue guidance, citing the shift in timing of shipments related to two mobile sensor processing solution customers to the second quarter from the first and a nominal change in demand from one mobile OEM. However, the company said its 2016 guidance remains unchanged.
Valeant Pharma (VRX) confirmed that its executive VP, Company Group President Deb Jorn has resigned, effective immediately.
SINA (SINA) reported better than expected fourth quarter results, but its revenue guidance for 2016 was downbeat.
Weibo (WB) also reported better than expected fourth quarter results but provided soft first quarter revenue guidance.
Checkpoint Systems (CKP), Cooper (COO), H&R Block (HRB), Mentor Graphics (MENT) and Smith & Wesson (SWHC) are among the companies due to release their quarterly results after the close of trading. |
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| | European Markets | | After seeing some volatility in early trading, European stocks are trading currently lower, as oil prices fluctuate and data confirmed the weakening of eurozone private sector activity to a more than one-year low.
In corporate news, Continental AG reported higher adjusted EBITDA for 2015 and maintained its guidance for 2016. The company also announced a 15 percent increase in its dividend.
Dutch supermarket chain Ahold reported higher profits for the fourth quarter. Sports apparel and accessories retailer Adidas said it expects currency neutral sales and net income to rise by 10-12 percent in 2016, helped by rising consumer spending.
Whitbread reported higher sales for the 11 months ended in February and said it sees full year earnings in line with its guidance. Immarsat reported a decline in its full year profits but raised its dividend.
On the economic front, Markit's final estimates showed that the eurozone composite PMI came in at 53 in February, upwardly revised from the flash estimate of 52.7. This compares to 53.6 in January. The service sector PMI was also upwardly revised by 0.3 points to 53.3 and compares to 53.6 in January.
An index compiled by Markit and the CIPS showed that U.K. service sector growth slowed notably in February. The service sector PMI fell to 52.7 from 55.6 in January, while economists expected a reading of 55.1.
The National Building Society reported that the U.K. house prices rose 4.8 percent year-over-year in February, the fastest rate of growth in 10 months. This follows a 4.4 percent increase in January. Economists expected a 4.9 percent jump for February.
Lloyds Banking Group's Halifax division released the results of its house price survey, showing a 9.7 percent year-over-year increase in house prices in February, ahead of the 10.4 percent rate expected by economists. However, house prices fell 1.4 percent compared to the previous month, while expectations called for unchanged prices. |
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| | Asian markets | | | | USDCAD | USDEUR | USDGBP | USDJPY |  |  |  |  | | Please click on the images to view our interactive charts | | | Most Asian markets advanced, although the Hong Kong, Indonesian and Malaysian markets bucked the uptrend. The gains were due to the late strength on Wall Street overnight and higher crude oil prices.
The Japanese market rallied strongly, helped by the yen remaining above the 114-level against the dollar. The Nikkei 225 Index opened lower but reversed course immediately after. After advancing till early afternoon trading, the index moved roughly sideways before ending up 213.61 points or 1.28 percent at a nearly one-month high of 16,960.
Retail, telecom, most utilities, with the exception of rail utilities, real estate, financial, resource and export stocks gained ground in the session, but construction and some pharma stocks came under selling pressure.
Australia's All Ordinaries Index hovered in positive territory throughout the session before ending 58.70 points or 1.15 percent higher at 5,142. Most sectors advanced, led by material, financial and energy stocks. On the other hand, healthcare and telecom stocks moved to the downside.
China's Shanghai Composite Index ended a volatile session up 10.08 points or 0.35 percent at 2,860, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slipped 61.73 points or 0.31 percent before ending at 19,942.
On the economic front, the results of a survey by Caixin and Markit showed that the Chinese service sector PMI fell to 51.2 in February from a 6-month high of 52.4 in January. The composite PMI that measures activity levels at both manufacturing and non-manufacturing firms fell to 49.4 from 50.1.
Nikkei and Markit reported that service sector activity in Japan expanded at a slower pace in February. The service sector index fell 1.2 points to 51.2. The composite PMI dropped to 51 compared to 52.6 in January.
A report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that Australia posted a trade deficit of A$2.937 billion in January compare to a deficit of A$587 million in December. Economists expected a deficit of A$3.20 billion. Exports rose 1 percent month-over-month, while imports fell 1 percent.
The Australian Industry Group reported that the Australian service sector moved into expansion territory in February. The service sector PMI surged up to 51.8 in February from 48.4 in January. |
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| | Currency and Commodities Markets | | Crude oil futures are slipping $0.25 to $34.41 barrel after rising $0.26 to $34.66 a barrel on Wednesday.
The previous session's modest increase came amid the release of the weekly petroleum status report, which showed that crude oil stockpiles rose by 10.40 million barrels to 518 million barrels in the week ended February 26th. Stockpiles were at historically high levels for this time of the year.
Distillate inventories also increased by 2.9 million barrels and remained well above the upper limit of the average range for this time of the year. Meanwhile, gasoline inventories declined by 1.5 million barrels yet were well above the upper limit of the average range.
Refinery capacity utilization averaged 87.5 percent over the four weeks ended February 26th compared to 87.1 percent for the four weeks ended February 19th.
Gold futures are trading currently at $1,242.90 an ounce, up $1.10 from the previous session's close of $1,241.80 an ounce. On Wednesday, gold gained $11.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 114.15 yen compared to the 113.48 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0859 compared to yesterday's $1.0868. |
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