11/20/13

The S&P 500 futures trade one point below fair value amid cautious overseas action.

Reviewing overnight developments:

Asian markets ended on a mixed note. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng +0.2%, China’s Shanghai Composite +0.6%, and Japan’s Nikkei -0.3%.

In regional economic data:

Japan’s trade deficit widened to JPY1.09 trillion from JPY932 billion (JPY814 billion expected) as exports grew 18.6% year-over-year (16.5% forecast, 11.5% prior) and imports increased 26.1% year-over-year (19.0% consensus, 16.5% last). Meanwhile, the adjusted trade balance narrowed to JPY1.07 trillion from JPY1.13 trillion (JPY0.88 trillion forecast). Also of note, the All Industries Activity Index ticked up 0.4% month-over-month (0.5% prior, 0.3% last).

Australia’s MI Leading Index came in at 0.1% (-0.1% last).

New Zealand’s input PPI rose 2.2% quarter-over-quarter (0.5% forecast, 0.6% last) while output PPI increased 2.4% quarter-over-quarter (1.0% expected, 1.0% prior).

Looking at news:

Japan’s trade deficit was among the worst on record as larger-than-expected energy imports outweighed the benefit of increased exports.

Major European indices hover near their lows. Germany’s DAX -0.2%, Great Britain’s FTSE -0.4%, and France’s CAC -0.4%. Elsewhere, Italy’s MIB -0.6% and Spain’s IBEX -1.1%.

Economic data was limited:

Germany’s PPI slipped 0.2% month-over-month (0.1% expected, 0.3% prior) while the year-over-year reading fell 0.7% (-0.6% expected, -0.5% last).

Spain’s trade deficit widened to EUR2.59 billion from EUR1.80 billion (-EUR2.50 billion expected).

Swiss ZEW Expectations improved to 31.6 from 24.9 (30.0 forecast).

In news:

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her party hopes to finish coalition talks in the middle of next weeks.

In U.S. corporate news:

Deere (DE 86.00, +3.19): +3.9% after beating on earnings and guiding first-quarter sales above consensus.

J.C. Penney (JCP 9.12, +0.41): +4.7% after the company missed on earnings and forecast an improvement in fourth-quarter gross margins and comparable store sales.

Lowe’s (LOW 48.81, -1.63): -3.2% following its earnings miss and mixed guidance.

Staples (SPLS 15.42, +0.08): +0.5% after reporting in-line earnings on below-consensus revenue.

The weekly MBA Mortgage Index fell 2.3% to follow last week’s decline of 1.8%.

October retail sales and CPI will be reported at 8:30 ET while September business inventories and October existing home sales will be released at 10:00 ET. The day will be topped off with the 14:00 ET release of the FOMC Minutes from the October meeting.