Day Traders Diary

10/2/13

U.S. equity futures hover near their lows with the S&P 500 futures down 0.5% as the government shutdown enters its second day.

Reviewing overnight developments:

Asian markets ended mixed. Japan's Nikkei -2.2%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng +0.6%, and China's Shanghai Composite remained closed for the Golden Week.
In regional economic data:
Japan's monetary base grew 46.1% year-over-year (45.3% forecast, 42.0% prior).
Australia's ANZ Commodity Price Index rose 0.9% month-over-month (0.7% previous), building approvals fell 4.7% month-over-month (-2.0% expected, 10.2% prior), and the trade deficit narrowed to $820 million from $1.38 billion (-$450 million expected).
Looking at news:
Japan's Nikkei endured a notable decline as participants expressed disappointment over the government's decision to raise the sales tax without including a widely-expected corporate tax cut in the package.
Most major European indices trade in negative territory. Germany's DAX -0.4%, Great Britain's FTSE -0.5%, and France's CAC -0.6%. Elsewhere, Italy's MIB +1.5% and Spain's IBEX is unchanged.
Economic data was limited:
Great Britain's Construction PMI slipped to 58.9 from 59.1 (59.2 expected) and Housing Equity Withdrawal came in at -GBP15.4 billion (-GBP7.2 billion expected, -GBP13.4 billion prior).
In Spain, the number of unemployed increased by 25,600 (12,300 expected, 0 previous).
In news:
Italy's MIB trades well ahead of the remainder of the region amid indications Prime Minister Enrico Letta will survive today's confidence vote. In addition, recent reports indicate Silvio Berlusconi himself will support the premier after trying to convince his party to withdraw from government.
In U.S. corporate news:

Alcoa (AA 7.97, -0.21) is -2.6% following a Deutsche Bank downgrade to 'Sell' from 'Hold.'
Baxter (BAX 65.00, -0.58) is -0.9% after Credit Suisse downgraded the stock to 'Neutral' from 'Outperform.'
Tesoro (TSO 43.49, +0.39) is +0.9% in reaction to a Citigroup upgrade to 'Buy' from 'Neutral.'
The weekly MBA Mortgage Index slipped 0.4% to follow the prior week's increase of 5.5%.

The September ADP Employment Change report will cross the wires at 8:15 ET.

All comments contained herein are for informational purposes only, and should not be considered as a solicitation to buy or sell any security. The firm does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information or make any warranties regarding results from it's usage.