Day Traders Diary

7/17/14

U.S. equity futures hover near their pre-market lows amid concerns surrounding the impact of the latest set of U.S. sanctions against Russia. The S&P 500 futures trade 12 points below fair value.
Reviewing overnight developments:
The major Asian markets ended on a lower note. China's Shanghai Composite -0.6%, Japan's Nikkei -0.1%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended just below its flat line
In economic data:
Hong Kong's Unemployment Rate rose to 3.2% from 3.1% (expected 3.1%)
Australia's CB Leading Index ticked up to 0.2% from -0.2%, while NAB Quarterly Business Confidence slipped to 6 from 7
South Korea's PPI was unchanged month-over-month (previous 0.0%), while the year-over-year reading ticked up 0.1% (prior 0.0%)
In news:
China State Council reiterated its intensions to continue promoting targeted economic stimulus measures while also reaffirming its commitment to reach 7.5% GDP for 2014
Concerns about another potential default in China took center stage after builder Huatong Road & Bridge Group said it may miss a bond payment that comes due on Wednesday
European indices trade lower across the board. Great Britain's FTSE -0.6%, Germany's DAX -0.8%, and France's CAC -0.9%. Elsewhere, Italy's MIB -1.3% and Spain's IBEX -1.1%
Economic data was limited:
Eurozone CPI ticked up 0.1% month-over-month, while the year-over-year reading increased 0.5%. Both figures met expectations. Core CPI rose 0.1% month-over-month (expected -0.1%, previous -0.1%), while the year-over-year reading climbed 0.8%, as expected
Spain's Industrial New Orders were unchanged year-over-year (expected 7.2%, previous 6.9%)
Among news of note:
European markets have retreated following the latest round of sanctions against Russia that target energy companies Rosneft and Novatek, banks Gazprombank and VEB, and several defense contractors
In U.S. corporate news:

Blackstone (BX 34.90, +0.92): +2.7% following its above-consensus earnings and revenue.
eBay (EBAY 51.00, +0.30): +0.6% after beating the Capital IQ consensus estimate by one cent and guiding lower.
Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (KMP 80.75, -1.60): -1.9% after missing earnings and revenue estimates.
Mattel (MAT 35.00, -4.03): -10.3% following its below-consensus results.
Morgan Stanley (MS 33.00, +0.50): +1.5% in reaction to better than expected results.
SanDisk (SNDK 99.50, -8.33): -7.7% after its cautious guidance overshadowed better than expected results.
SAP (SAP 81.28, +1.64): +2.1% after beating earnings estimates by four cents.
UnitedHealth Group (UNH 84.60, +0.84): +1.0% after beating estimates and guiding higher.
Yum! Brands (YUM 80.70, -2.01): -2.4% following its one-cent beat on in-line revenue.
Weekly initial claims (Briefing.com consensus 311K), June Housing Starts (consensus 1.02 million), and Building Permits (consensus 1.04 million) will be released at 8:30 ET, while the Philadelphia Fed survey (consensus 12.5) for July will be reported at 10:00 ET.

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