Day Traders Diary

5/1/14

U.S. equity futures trade little changed, while most global markets are closed for Labor Day. The S&P 500 futures hover right below fair value.
Reviewing overnight developments:
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei advanced 1.3%, while China's Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng were closed.
In economic data:
China's Manufacturing PMI ticked up to 50.4 from 50.3 (expected 50.5).
Australia's AIG Manufacturing Index fell to 44.8 from 47.9. Separately, the Export Price Index increased 3.6% quarter-over-quarter (expected 1.5%, prior -0.5%) and Import Price Index rose 3.2% quarter-over-quarter (consensus 1.8%, last -0.6%)
South Korea's CPI ticked up 0.1% month-over-month (consensus 0.2%, previous 0.2%), while the year-over-year reading increased 1.5%, as expected. Separately, the trade surplus expanded to $4.46 billion from $4.17 billion (expected $4.13 billion) as imports grew 5.0% year-over-year (expected 3.5%, previous 3.6%) and exports increased 9.0% (consensus 5.2%, prior 5.1%).
In news:
Koichi Hamada, who is an adviser to Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, discussed the recent sales tax hike, saying more easing will be in order if the impact of the tax hike becomes more pronounced.
Most major European markets are closed. Great Britain's FTSE, however, trades higher by 0.3%.
Participants received several data points:
Great Britain's Manufacturing PMI rose to 57.3 from 55.8 (expected 55.4), while Nationwide HPI increased 1.2% month-over-month (consensus 0.7%, prior 0.5%). Separately, BoE Consumer Credit expanded to GBP1.13 billion from GBP580 million (expected GBP600 million) and Net Lending to Individuals increased to GBP2.90 billion from GBP2.10 billion (expected GBP2.50 billion). Also of note, Mortgage Approvals came in at 67,000 (expected 71,000, prior 70,000) and Mortgage Lending increased to GBP1.80 billion from GBP1.50 billion (expected GBP1.50 billion).
Among news of note:
Great Britain's FTSE holds a modest gain thanks to support from British Sky Broadcasting and Lloyds Banking Group, both of which reported above-consensus earnings.
In U.S. corporate news:

Con-way (CNW 43.12, +0.64): +1.5% after beating bottom-line estimates.
JDS Uniphase (JDSU 11.60, -1.07): -8.5% following its earnings miss and below-consensus revenue.
MasterCard (MA 74.00, +0.45): +0.6% following better-than-expected results.
MetLife (MET 51.00, -1.35): -2.6% after missing earnings and revenue estimates.
Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO 44.24, -1.15): -2.5% following its bottom-line beat on below-consensus revenue.
Shire (SHPG 175.38, +3.63): +2.1% after beating earnings estimates on light revenue.
Western Digital (WDC 86.50, -1.58): -1.8% despite beating earnings expectations.
Yelp (YELP 64.15, +5.83): +10.0% after beating on earnings and revenue.
The April Challenger Job Cuts report indicated a 6.0% year-over-year increase to follow the previous decline of 30.2%.

Weekly initial claims, March Personal Income, Personal Spending, and core PCE Prices will all be reported at 8:30 ET. March Construction Spending and the April ISM Index will both be released at 10:00 ET, while auto and truck makers will be reporting their April sales throughout the day.

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