Day Traders Diary

7/7/14

U.S. equity futures trade modestly lower amid cautious action overseas. The S&P 500 futures hover five points below fair value.
Reviewing overnight developments:
Asian markets ended mixed. Japan's Nikkei -0.4%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng -0.02%, and China's Shanghai Composite +0.03%.
Economic data was limited:
Japan's Leading Index slipped to 105.7 from 106.5 (expected 106.0)
Australia's AIG Construction Index rose to 51.8 from 46.7, while ANZ Job Advertisements jumped 4.3% month-over-month (previous -5.7%)
In news:
Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda spoke at the quarterly Branch Managers meeting, saying the year-over-year increase in core inflation is likely to be around 1.25% for 'some time.'
Major European indices trade lower across the board. Germany's DAX -0.4%, Great Britain's FTSE -0.4%, and France's CAC -0.7%. Elsewhere, Italy's MIB -0.7% and Spain's IBEX -0.8%.
Participants received several data points:
Eurozone Sentix Investor Confidence improved to 10.1 from 8.5 (expected 8.0)
Germany's Industrial Production fell 1.8% month-over-month (consensus 0.2%, previous -0.3%)
Spain's Industrial Production rose 2.5% year-over-year (expected 3.8%, previous 4.1%)
Swiss Unemployment rate slipped to 2.9% from 3.0%, as expected
Among news of note:
IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde spoke over the weekend, suggesting the current slow rate of investment could pressure global growth. The IMF chief said the latest growth forecast will differ slightly from the previous outlook, but stopped short of giving specific figures
In U.S. corporate news:

Applied Materials (AMAT 23.26, +0.45): +2.0% in reaction to a JP Morgan upgrade to 'Overweight' from 'Neutral.'
GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT 18.28, -1.27): -6.5% after being downgraded to 'Neutral' from 'Buy' at UBS.
Ultratech (UTEK 23.58, +0.59): +2.6% following a Bank of America/Merrill Lynch upgrade to 'Buy' from 'Neutral.'
There is no economic data on today's schedule.

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