Day Traders Diary

4/14/14

U.S. equity futures display modest gains despite cautious action in Europe, where the major regional indices hold losses following an escalation of tensions in Ukraine. Over the weekend, Ukraine's army exchanged gunfire with pro-Russian militants attempting to seize government buildings in the country's Southeast region. The S&P 500 futures hover six points above fair value.
Reviewing overnight developments:
Asian markets ended mixed. Japan's Nikkei -0.4%, China's Shanghai Composite +0.1%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng +0.2%.
Economic data was limited:
South Korea's trade surplus narrowed to $4.17 billion from $4.19 billion.
Singapore's GDP rose 5.1% year-over-year, as expected.
In news:
China's Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao commented on the economy over the weekend, saying Beijing will not unleash stimulus measures in order to tackle short-term volatility.
Major European indices trade lower. Great Britain's FTSE -0.3%, France's CAC -0.4%, and Germany's DAX -0.4%. Elsewhere, Italy's MIB -0.8% and Spain's IBEX -1.2%.
Economic data was limited:
Eurozone Industrial Production ticked up 0.2% month-over-month, as expected, while the year-over-year reading increased 1.7% (consensus 1.5%, prior 1.6%).
Italian CPI ticked up 0.1% month-over-month, while the year-over-year reading rose 0.4%. Both figures met expectations.
Among news of note:
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi commented over the weekend, reminding investors that the central bank is ready to act if needed and that continued euro strength will likely be met with stimulus measures.
In U.S. corporate news:

Citigroup (C 46.81, +1.13): +2.5% after beating on earnings and revenue.
Edwards Lifesciences (EW 81.99, +9.02): +11.7% after the company was granted an injunction limiting the sale of Medtronic's (MDT 56.50, -2.70) CoreValve system in the U.S.
Microsoft (MSFT 38.93, -0.28): -0.7% after Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to 'Hold' from 'Buy.'
Yahoo! (YHOO 33.30, +0.43): +1.3% after Sun Trust Robinson Humphrey upgraded the stock to 'Buy' from 'Neutral.'
The Retail Sales report for March (Briefing.com consensus +1.0%) will be released at 8:30 ET while February Business Inventories (consensus +0.6%) will be announced at 10:00 ET.

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