Day Traders Diary
10/31/13
Happy Halloween!U.S. equity futures sport modest losses with the S&P 500 futures trading just below fair value.
Reviewing overnight developments:
Asian markets ended lower. Hong Kong's Hang Seng -0.4%, China's Shanghai Composite -0.9%, and Japan's Nikkei -1.2%.
In regional economic data:
The Bank of Japan maintained its key interest rate and made no changes to its purchasing program following last night's policy meeting. In addition, average cash earnings ticked up 0.1% year-over-year (-0.5% expected, -0.9% prior) while Manufacturing PMI improved to 54.2 from 52.5. Separately, the foreign bonds buying report indicated net inflows in the amount of JPY1.04 trillion. (JPY1.41 trillion prior). Also of note, construction orders surged 89.8% year-over-year (21.4% last) and housing starts spiked 19.4% year-over-year (12.2% forecast, 8.8% last).
Australia's Import Price Index rose 6.1% quarter-over-quarter (4.0% expected, -0.3% prior) while the Export Price Index increased 4.2% quarter-over-quarter (3.0% forecast, -0.3% last). Separately, building approvals jumped 14.4% (2.7% forecast, -1.6% prior) while private sector credit ticked up 0.3% month-over-month (0.4% forecast, 0.3% last).
Singaporean unemployment rate fell to 1.8% from 2.1% (2.1% consensus).
Hong Kong's retail sales rose 5.1% year-over-year (7.7% expected, 8.1% last).
In news:
The People's Bank of China moved to alleviate the ongoing liquidity crunch by conducting reverse repurchase operations. The two-week SHIBOR rate registered the most notable decline, falling nearly 84 basis points to 5.51%.
Core European indices are little changed while peripheral markets outperform. Germany's DAX +0.1%, Great Britain's FTSE -0.4%, and France's CAC +0.4%. Elsewhere, Italy's MIB +0.8% and Spain's IBEX +0.6%.
Economic data was plentiful:
Eurozone unemployment jumped to 12.2% from 12.0% (12.0% expected) while CPI came in at 0.7% year-over-year (1.1% expected, 1.1% prior). Separately, core CPI increased 0.8% year-over-year (1.0% forecast, 1.0% last).
Germany's retail sales slipped 0.4% month-over-month (0.4% expected, -0.2% prior) while the year-over-year reading reflected an uptick of 0.2% (1.0% forecast, 0.4% prior). Separately, GfK Consumer Climate slipped to 7.0 from 7.1 (7.2 expected) and the import price index was unchanged month-over-month (0.1% forecast, 0.1% prior).
Great Britain's Nationwide HPI rose 1.0% month-over-month (0.7% consensus, 0.9% last).
French consumer spending slipped 0.1% month-over-month (0.3% expected, -0.3% previous) while PPI ticked up 0.3% month-over-month (0.2% forecast, 0.3% last).
Italy's CPI slipped 0.3% month-over-month (0.4% expected, -0.3% prior) while the year-over-year reading rose 0.7% (1.2% forecast, 0.9% last). PPI was unchanged month-over-month (0.1% expected, 0.1% last) and the year-over-year reading fell 1.8% (-2.1% forecast, -2.1% prior).
Spain's government budget surplus expanded to EUR3.30 billion from a deficit of EUR2.40 billion (EUR2.50 billion surplus expected) while business confidence slipped to -14 from -12 (-11 consensus).
Looking at news:
In Germany, a member of the SPD party has indicated an agreement has been reached with Angela Merkel's CSU/CDU alliance on a coalition government.
In U.S. corporate news:
AmerisourceBergen (ABC 65.29, +0.07): +0.1% after beating on earnings and revenue.
Avon Products (AVP 20.40, -2.00): -8.9% in reaction to missing on earnings and revenue.
Avis Budget (CAR 28.70, 0.00): is little changed after reporting an earnings miss on above-consensus revenue.
CIGNA (CI 76.00, +1.36): +1.8% following its better-than-expected earnings on above-consensus revenue. The company issued full-year 2013 earnings guidance above consensus.
ConocoPhillips (COP 74.11, +0.86): +1.2% after beating bottom-line estimates by two cents.
Expedia (EXPE 58.81, +8.85): +17.7% after reporting earnings and revenue ahead of analyst estimates. Following the report, Bank of America/Merrill Lynch upgraded the stock to 'Buy' from 'Neutral.'
Facebook (FB 50.44, +1.43): +2.9% following its better-than-expected earnings and revenue. The stock was up as much as 14.0% in after-hours action, but surrendered most of the advance during the earnings conference call after company officials said a decline in daily usage among young users has been observed.
MetLife (MET 48.30, -0.70): -1.4% after missing revenue estimates.
Visa (V 197.50, -6.32): -3.1% following its earnings miss on below-consensus revenue. The company reaffirmed its full-year 2014 earnings and revenue guidance while the Board of Directors has authorized a new repurchase program in the amount of $5.0 billion.
Weekly initial claims will be reported at 8:30 ET and the October Chicago PMI will be released at 9:45 ET.
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