Mar E-mini S&Ps (ESH18 +0.32%) this morning are up +0.12% as they recovered from a 1-week low in overnight trade. Stocks rebounded on upbeat Fed commentary after Fed Governor Quarles said the U.S. economy is in the "best shape" since the crisis. The 10-year T-note stabilized below Wednesday's new 4-year high after St. Louis Fed President Bullard warned the Fed needs to be careful not to increase interest rates too quickly this year. European stocks are down -0.56%after the German Feb IFO business climate fell more than expected. A downward revision to UK Q4 GDP also undercut European stocks and knocked GBP/USD down -0.24% to a 1-week low. Asian stocks settled mostly lower: Japan -1.47%, Hong Kong -1.48%, China +2.17%, Taiwan -0.49%, Australia +0.12%, Singapore -0.79%, South Korea -0.73%, India -0.07%. Chinese markets reopened after the week-long Lunar New Year holiday and rallied to a 2-week high. Other Asian markets did not fare as well as weakness in technology stocks weighed on the markets as did U.S. interest rate concerns after the 10-year T-note yield on Wednesday rose to a 4-year high of 2.95%.
The dollar index (DXY00 +0.05%) is up +0.07% at a 1-week high. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.02%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.45%.
Mar 10-year T-note prices (ZNH18 +0.09%) are up +3 ticks.
Fed Governor Quarles said, the U.S. economy is in the "best shape" since the crisis and "with a strong labor market and likely only temporary softness in inflation, I view it as appropriate that monetary policy should continue to be gradually normalized."
St. Louis Fed President Bullard said the Fed needs to be careful not to increase interest rates too quickly this year because that could have a restrictive effect on the economy.
The German Feb IFO business climate fell -2.2 to a 5-month low of 115.4, weaker than expectations of -0.6 to 117.0.
UK Q4 GDP was revised downward to +0.4% q/q and +1.4% y/y from the previously reported +0.5% q/q and +1.5% y/y.
Key U.S. news today includes: (1) weekly initial unemployment claims (expected unch at 230,000, previous +7,000 to 230,000) and continuing claims (expected -7,000 to 1.935 million, previous +15,000 to 1.942 million), (2) Jan leading indicators (expected +0.7%, Dec +0.6%), (3) Feb Kansas City Fed manufacturing activity (expected +2 to 18, Jan +3 to 16), (4) EIA weekly Petroleum Status Report, (5) Treasury auctions $29 billion 7-year T-notes, and (6) USDA Jan Cold Storage.
Notable S&P 500 earnings reports today include: HP Inc (consensus $0.42), Intuit (0.34), Apache (0.23), Newmont Mining (0.37), Equifax (1.35), Welltower (1.05), SCANA (0.81), Alliant Energy (0.36), Edison Intl (0.92).
U.S. IPO's scheduled to price today: Crescent Funding (CFUNU).
Equity conferences this week: CAGNY Investor Conference on Tue-Fri, Barclays Industrial Select Conference on Wed-Thu, Citi Global Industrials Conference on Wed-Thu, Royal Bank of Canada Health Care Conference on Wed-Thu, Gabelli & Company Valve & Water Systems Symposium on Thu.
Stamps.com (STMP -2.68%) rallied nearly 12% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of $4.68, well above consensus of $2.69, and then said it sees full-year adjusted EPS of $8.80 to $9.80, higher than consensus of $8.21.
Cheesecake Factory (CAKE +1.34%) fell 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 restaurant comparable sales fell -0.9%, weaker than consensus of -0.7%.
Synopsys (SNPS -1.45%) gained over 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 adjusted EPOS of $1.19, higher than consensus of $1.00, and then said it sees full-year adjusted EPS of $3.67 to $3.74, stronger than consensus of $3.51.
Avis Budget Group (CAR -2.45%) jumped over 7% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 45 cents, well above consensus of 21 cents, and said it sees full-year adjusted EPS of $2.90 to $3.75, the midpoint higher than consensus of $3.02.
Roku (ROKU -0.16%) plunged over 20% in after-hours trading after it said it sees Q1 revenue of $120 million to $130 million, weaker than consensus of $132 million.
MINDBODY (MB -0.30%) climbed over 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 revenue of $49.7 million, above consensus of $49.0 million, and said it sees Q1 revenue of $53 million to $54.5 million, better than consensus of $52.5 million.
Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI +3.66%) dropped 8% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 revenue of $79.9 million, below consensus of $86.5 million, and said it sees Q1 revenue of $67 million to $71 million, weaker than expectations of $86.4 million.
Five9 (FIVN +0.48%) rose almost 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 7 cents, better than consensus of 4 cents, and then said it sees Q1 adjusted EPS of 2 cents to 4 cents, above consensus of 1.1 cents.
Sailpoint Technologies (SAIL +2.69%) rallied over 11% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 revenue climbed +53% y/y to $67.8 million.
Ultra Clean Holdings (UCTT -1.96%) fell over 5% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 59 cents, weaker than consensus of 60 cents, and said it sees Q1 adjusted EPS of 56 cents to 63 cents, the midpoint below consensus of 62 cents.
Wendy's (WEN +0.75%) lost over 1% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 comparable sales of +1.3%, weaker than consensus of +1.8%, and said it sees full-year adjusted EPS of 54 cents to 56 cents, below consensus of 61 cents.
Bandwidth (BAND +0.75%) jumped 12% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 revenue of $42.5 million, above consensus of $41.7 million, and then said it sees 2018 total revenue of $188 million to $190 million, better than consensus of $181.4 million.
Pandora (P -8.63%) rallied 8% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 revenue of $395.3 million, higher than consensus of $375.7 million.
Castlight (CSLT +8.45%) sank 9% in after-hours trading after it said it sees 2018 GAAP revenue between $150 million to $155 million, below consensus of $160.6 million.
Mar S&P 500 E-mini stock futures (ESH18 +0.32%) this morning are up +3.25 points (+0.12%). Wednesday's closes: S&P 500 -0.55%, Dow Jones -0.67%, Nasdaq -0.30%. The S&P 500 on Wednesday closed lower on the jump in the 10-year T-note yield to a 4-year high of 2.95% and on the unexpected -3.2% decline in U.S. Jan existing home sales to a 4-month low of 5.38 million, weaker than expectations of +0.5% to 5.60 million. Stocks found some supoprt on the comment in the Jan 30-31 FOMC meeting minutes that Fed officials saw "substantial underlying economic momentum" in the U.S. economy.
Mar 10-year T-note prices (ZNH18 +0.09%) this morning are up +3 ticks. Wednesday's closes: TYH8 -9.00, FVH8 -4.00. Mar 10-year T-notes on Wednesday closed lower on the Jan 30-31 FOMC meeting minutes that noted "a stronger outlook for economic growth raised the likelihood that further policy firming would be appropriate." Stocks were also undercut by the U.S. Feb Markit manufacturing PMI report that rose to its best level in 3-1/2 years, which bolsters the case for additional Fed rate hikes. T-notes continued to be pressured by supply as the Treasury auctions $107 billion of T-notes this week.
The dollar index (DXY00 +0.05%) this morning is up +0.062 (+0.07%) at a 1-week high. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.0003 (+0.02%) and USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.48 (-0.45%). Wednesday's closes: Dollar Index +0.284 (+0.32%), EUR/USD -0.0053 (-0.43%), USD/JPY +0.45 (+0.42%). The dollar on Wednesday closed higher on the upbeat Jan 30-31 FOMC meeting minutes where Fed officials saw "substantial underlying economic momentum" in the U.S. economy. There was also weakness in EUR/USD after the Eurozone Feb Markit manufacturing PMI fell more than expected. The dollar was undercut by the comment in the Jan 30-31 FOMC meeting minutes that some Fed officials saw an "appreciable risk" that inflation remains below their 2% target.
Apr crude oil (CLJ18 -0.36%) this morning is down -19 cents (-0.31%) and Apr gasoline (RBJ18 -0.47%) is -0.0077 (-0.40%). Wednesday's closes: Apr WTI crude -0.11 (-0.18%), Apr gasoline +0.0100 (+0.52%). Apr crude oil and gasoline on Wednesday settled mixed. Crude oil prices were undercut by a stronger dollar and by expectations for Thursday's weekly EIA crude oil inventories to climb by +3.0 million bbl, the fourth consecutive weekly increase. Gasoline closed higher after the crack spread jumped to a 3-month high, which gives incentive to refiners to purchase crude oil to refine into gasoline.
Metals prices this morning are weaker with Apr gold (GCJ18 -0.51%) -6.8 (-0.51%) at a 1-week low, Mar silver (SIH18-1.10%) -0.197 (-1.19%), and Mar copper (HGH18 -1.15%) -0.038 (-1.18%) at a 1-week low. Wednesday's closes: Apr gold +0.9 (+0.07%), Mar silver +0.179 (+1.09%), Mar copper +0.0255 (+0.80%). Metals on Wednesday closed higher on ICSG data that showed the global copper deficit widened to 196,000 MT from Jan-Nov of 2017. Metals prices were also boosted by the unexpected increase in the U.S. Feb Markit manufacturing PMI to a 3-1/2 year high, which shows economic strength and is positive for industrial metals demand.