Day Traders Diary

7/14/17

 Investor sentiment is subdued in early action as Wall Street digests several influential earnings reports and awaits a wave of potentially-influential economic data. The S&P 500 futures trade one point below fair value.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM 92.20, -0.90) unofficially kicked off earnings season earlier this morning on a positive note, beating both top and bottom line estimates. However, JPM shares lower by 1.0% in pre-market trade. Citigroup (C 67.10, +0.08) also reported better than expected earnings and revenues and currently shows a slim gain of 0.1%. Wells Fargo (WFC 55.50, -0.10) will also be reporting before the opening bell.

Today's economic calendar is very busy with five reports on the docket. Investors will receive June CPI (Briefing.com consensus 0.0%) and June Retail Sales (Briefing.com consensus +0.1%) at 8:30 ET, the June Industrial Production (Briefing.com consensus +0.4%) and Capacity Utilization (Briefing.com consensus 76.8%) report at 9:15 ET, and both May Business Inventories (Briefing.com consensus +0.3%) and the preliminary reading of the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for July (Briefing.com consensus 95.1) at 10:00 ET.

U.S. Treasuries are trading modestly higher this morning with the benchmark 10-yr yield slipping one basis point to 2.33%. For its part, crude oil is up 0.6% at $46.34/bbl.

In U.S. corporate news:

JPMorgan Chase (JPM 92.20, -0.90): -1.0% despite beating both top and bottom line estimates.

Citigroup (C 67.10, +0.08): +0.1% after reporting better than expected earnings and revenues.

Wal-Mart (WMT 76.40, +1.35): +1.8% after the company was added to the 'Conviction Buy List' at Goldman.

Boeing (BA 207.89, +1.66): +0.8% after BA shares were upgraded to 'Overweight' from 'Neutral' at JP Morgan.

Reviewing overnight developments:

Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region ended the week on a mostly higher note, but trading ranges were relatively narrow. Japan's Nikkei +0.1%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng +0.2%, China's Shanghai Composite +0.1%, India's Sensex -0.1%.

In economic data:

Japan's May Industrial Production -3.6% month-over-month (expected -3.3%; last -3.3%) and May Capacity Utilization -4.1% (last 4.3%)

South Korea's June Import Price Index +2.3% year-over-year (last 4.1%) and Export Price Index +4.9% year-over-year (last 5.1%)

New Zealand's June Business PMI 56.2 (last 58.5)

Singapore's Q2 GDP +0.4% quarter-over-quarter (expected 1.1%; last -1.9%); +2.5% year-over-year (consensus 2.8%; last 2.5%)

In news:

In China, Insurance Regulatory Commission vice chair Chen Wenhui said that the insurance industry is facing risks, ranging from liquidity pressure to reputational risks, according to Xinhua.

On a related note, Fitch said liquidity and asset risks for Chinese insurance companies are on the rise.

Major European indices trade near their flat lines, looking for a subdued finish to the week. UK's FTSE -0.2%, Germany's DAX unch, France's CAC +0.1%.

In economic data:

Eurozone May trade surplus expanded to EUR21.40 billion from EUR17.90 billion

Italy's May trade surplus EUR4.34 billion (expected surplus of EUR2.43 billion; last surplus of EUR3.60 billion). June CPI -0.1% month-over-month, as expected (last -0.1%); +1.2% year-over-year, as expected (last 1.2%)

In news:

The UK's Brexit minister, David Davis, acknowledged that the UK will need to pay a settlement to the European Union to ensure smooth negotiations.