Америка сегодня. Инфляция, розничные продажи и складские запасы.

 

 

 On The Wires

• Realty Income (O) announced its Board of Directors has declared an increase in the company's common stock monthly cash dividend to $0.211 per share from $0.2105 per share.
• Ensco plc (ESV) announced that it has extended the expiration date for its previously announced offer to exchange any and all of its $332,048,000 outstanding principal amount of 8.00% Senior Notes due 2024 for an equal amount of new 8.00% Senior Notes due 2024. This registered exchange offer, which was initially scheduled to expire on March 14, has been extended until March 21

 On The Wires

• Accenture (ACN) announced an expansion of its capabilities in Oregon, including a new office that is now home to 100 Accenture employees who work with clients in Washington County. Accenture will focus on serving clients across the retail, information technology, hospitality and government sectors
• Brightcove (BCOV) announced the launch of the Brightcove Agency Program. The program is designed to enable agencies to deliver advanced video technology and expertise through Brightcove's industry-leading video platform.

 On The Wires

• Accenture (ACN) has launched a Liquid Studio in Singapore to help clients around the region take advantage of new innovations and accelerate software application development cycles. The Liquid Studio features an open environment where clients work with highly skilled Accenture engineers to turn concepts into applications and solutions with speed and agility.
• ACI Worldwide (ACIW) announced that Peach Payments, a fast-growing South African payment service provider, will offer merchants a seamless mobile checkout solution with the ACI Mobile Commerce Software Development Kit
• STMicroelectronics (STM) and iFLYTEK have introduced the market's first IoT development platform that enables voice-recognition cloud services in Chinese. The new platform combines ST's SensorTile multi-sensor module, STM32 ODE, and Open.software package with iFLYTEK's voice-recognition technology.

 

 H&M reports Feb sales including VAT increased 3% YoY  (5.47)

• The H&M group's sales including VAT increased by 3% in local currencies adjusted for negative calendar effects in the month of February 2017 compared to the same month last year. The negative calendar effect amounted to ~4 percentage points since February 2017 had one day less than February 2016, which was a leap year.
• First quarter 2017
  • In the first quarter of 2017, i.e. during the period Dec 1 to Feb 28, the H&M group's sales including VAT amounted to SEK 54,369 mln, an increase of 7%.
  • Sales excluding VAT amounted to SEK 46,985 mln, an increase of 8%. In local currencies, sales including VAT increased by 4%.

 On The Wires

• Premier (PMOIY) announces that the final Schuldschein loan holder has entered into the lock up agreement with respect to the terms of the proposed refinancing. As a result of this, the lock up agreements entered into by the Private Lenders (comprising the RCF, FLS Term Loan, US Private Placement notes and Schuldschein loans) and the convertible bondholders have now become effective, committing the parties who have locked up to vote in favour of the refinancing.
• Sports Direct International (SDISY) issued a media statement correcting what it described as 'fake news' about the Company's chief executive-to-average employee pay, which was attributed to a list compiled by Pensions & Investment Research Consultants. A spokesman for the Company said that the Sports Direct figure in the table of data published by City AM, and attributed to PIRC, was incorrect. The table incorrectly claims that Sports Direct had a chief executive-to-average employee pay ratio of 400:1, the second highest in the FTSE 350.
• Schneider Electric (SBGSY) announced the introduction of the Ecoflair Indirect Air Economizer cooling solution, which uses a proprietary polymer heat exchanger technology to provide a cost-effective, highly energy efficient approach to data centre cooling
• Cognizant (CTSH) announced that the United Kingdom's Financial Services Compensation Scheme has selected Cognizant as its technology partner to help FSCS enhance customer experience using digital technologies.
• Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMI) has executed a technology transfer and license agreement for Invensas' Direct Bond Interconnect technology.
• Arrow Electronics (ARW) held an Internet of Things Innovations event in Shenzhen, China to connect Hong Kong innovation startups with technology companies in China. As part of Arrow's vision of guiding and connecting innovators, entrepreneurs, customers and suppliers in the IoT design-to-production journey, the event attracted over 500 attendees from all sections of the IoT ecosystem in Hong Kong and China.

 

 

 

 Netflix upgraded to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies; tgt raised to $135 from $95  (143.19)

 

 

 WebMD Health downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Cowen  (52.65)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Amec Foster Wheeler upgraded to Outperform from Mkt Perform at Raymond James  (6.16)

 Sanchez Energy target lowered to $15 at FBR & Co.  (9.60)FBR & Co. lowers their SN tgt to $15 from $18 after updating their model for the latest financial and operations data, including a recent 10-K filing and an acquisition closing. The drop was driven by marked-to-market commodity prices, which offset a lower adjusted purchase price for co's Comanche acquisition in the Eagle Ford. Capital efficiency remains core to their investment thesis on SN, and, as expected, the company demonstrated dramatic improvements on this metric during 2016. Firm maintains Outperform rating as they continue to believe that Sanchez's leading position in the western Eagle Ford is not fully appreciated by the market.

 

 

 

 Rubicon Project downgraded to Neutral from Buy at B. Riley & Co.  (8.39)

 On The Wires

• Amazon Inc. (AMZN) announced its Prime Now one and two-hour delivery service adds wine and beer to its product offerings available for superfast delivery in Cincinnati and Columbus. The company adds hundreds of alcohol-related products to its inventory from popular name brands such as Chateau Ste. Michelle, Bud Light and Veuve Clicquot as well as local favorites like Great Lakes Brewing Company, Rhinegeist and MadTree Brewing.
• Edgewell Personal Care (EPC) amends credit facility. The amendment and the supplement increased the amount of the revolving credit facility available to Edgewell and Brands under the Credit Agreement by an additional $75,000,000 to a total aggregate revolving facility of $725,000,000, and made certain other changes to the Credit Agreement, including allowing Edgewell to enter into receivables sales facilities for up to $150,000,000 of receivables.

 

 

 

 

 

 Hikma shares higher by 7% following FY16 results  (26.50)

• FY16 Group core basic earnings per share of 118.5 cents, down 18% and down 5% in constant currency following the issuance of 40 million additional shares in February 2016 in relation to the West-Ward Columbus acquisition; Group revenue of $1,950 million, up 35% and up 39% in constant currency.
• Group revenue in 2017 expected to be around $2.2 billion in constant currency.
• «We made significant strategic progress in 2016. The acquisition of West-Ward Columbus is transforming our Generics business and the Group as a whole. This is our largest acquisition to date and the integration process has been both challenging and exciting. We expect the Generics business to achieve significant growth in revenue and profitability in the coming years as we focus on pipeline execution and portfolio optimisation.»

 

 

 

 

 Overnight Summary — World markets sleepwalk through the overnight session

• The global equity markets had another very quiet overnight session, doing little more than treading water ahead of the FOMC meeting. S&P Futures are trading about 4 points higher, however volume was considerably light, so lack of liquidity may have played a minor role in what looks like a modest rebound following yesterday's decline.
• Asia had an extremely tight trading session, with Japanese equities closing down 0.2%, while China managed to gain 0.1%. News flow out of the region was light, providing traders with little reason to step out in front of the Fed's policy meeting later today. Although there was nothing that sparked a catalyst in the markets, there were a couple of items to make note of. The People's Conference officially came to a close today, with Premier Li's concluding speech offering no surprises. Also, there was a modest upward revision to Japan's Feb Industrial Production, coming in at +3.7%, up from the preliminary reading of +3.2%.
• European bourses are echoing the tone of Asia with minor net changes across the regional landscape. The rebound in Crude has helped the Energy sector outperform this morning, and also lending to the FTSE's leadership against its EU peers with heavyweights Shell and BP both trading 1% higher.

Market Updates:

• S&P Futures vs Fair Value: +4.00 
• 10 yr Note: 2.5857% 
• USD/JPY: 114.68 -0.07 
• EUR/USD: 1.0621 +0.0017
• Europe: FTSE -0.2% DAX Unch CAC -0.1% 
• Asia: Hang Seng +0.2% Shanghai +0.1% Nikkei -0.2% 
• Commodities: Gold (1201.60 -1.00) Silver (16.91 -0.01) crude (48.63 +0.91) 

US Econ Data

• February CPI, February Retail Sales, March Empire Manufacturing (8:30am)
• January Business Inventories (10am)
• Crude Inventories (10:30am)
• FOMC Decision (2pm)
• Fed Chair Yellen Press Conference (2:30pm)
• March Net Long-Term TIC Flows (4pm)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 On The Wires

• Soligenix (SNGX) announced that Oreola Donini, PhD, Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of Soligenix will present preclinical and clinical results on the use of dusquetide (SGX94) in the treatment of emerging and antibiotic resistant infectious diseases at Superbugs & Superdrugs — A Focus on Antibacterials. The conference is being held in London March 20-21, 2017.
• Corindus Vascular Robotics (CVRS) announced WakeMed Health & Hospitals purchased three CorPath GRX Systems to develop a vascular robotics program.
• On Mar 14, 2017, Revance Therapeutics (RVNC) entered into a Technology Transfer, Validation and Commercial Fill/Finish Services Agreement with Ajinomoto Althea a contract development and manufacturing organization. Althea has agreed, among other things, to provide the co with a future source of commercial fill/finish services for the co's neuromodulator products. The services agreement provides the co expanded capacity and a second source of drug product manufacturing to support a global launch of DaxibotulinumtoxinA for Injection. The services agreement also mitigates supply chain risk by giving the Company a different manufacturing location than its current site and reduces future capital and operating expenditures required in the co's primary manufacturing facility by outsourcing to an experienced partner.
• Prima BioMed (PBMD) announces that the second cohort comprising six patients has now been fully recruited for its TACTI-mel clinical trial being conducted in Australia. Patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma that have had a suboptimal response to Keytruda were dosed with the higher 6 mg dose of IMP321 in combination with Keytruda.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Windstream resumed with a Neutral at JP Morgan  (6.07)

 

 Retail Sales Preview

The Retail Sales Report for February will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. It will be watched closely to see if high levels of consumer confidence are translating into actual spending activity.

According to the Briefing.com consensus estimates, total retail sales and retail sales, excluding autos, are both expected to be up 0.1%. That would be a marked slowdown from the 0.4% and 0.8% increases, respectively, registered in January.

• Lower gasoline prices, some softening auto sales, and a delay in tax refunds are thought to have been a drag on retail sales in February.

• Economists in general are anticipating a slowdown in sales activity from the strong pace in January, which also included an upward revision to the retail sales data for December.

• The pickup in job growth and wages is expected to keep retail sales moving up month-over-month.

• Core retail sales, which exclude auto, gasoline station, building materials, and food services sales, will be a focal point since they will factor into the computation of the goods component for personal consumption expenditures for the Q1 GDP report.

 RE/MAX Holdings initiated with a Neutral at Wedbush; tgt $60 — details  (55.15)Wedbush initiates RMAX with a Neutral and price target of $60 based on 1) a positive bias toward the underlying fundamentals including the recurrent nature of rev streams, high profitability of the franchise model, and growth potential from accretive M&A; balanced against 2) somewhat limited expectations to share in gains from recovering housing markets and mainly, firm's view of limited upside potential given current guidance absent a catalyst to sharply raise earnings growth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 European Markets Update: DAX +0.1%, CAC +0.1%, FTSE +0.2%

Major European indices trade near their flat lines while Italy's MIB (+0.7%) and Spain's IBEX (+0.5%) outperform. Today's mostly range-bound action comes ahead of the latest FOMC rate decision and today's general election in the Netherlands. In Scotland, a YouGov Times survey showed that 57.0% of voters support remaining in the United Kingdom. Also of note, French presidential candidate Francois Fillon was placed under a formal investigation for diversion of public funds.

• In economic data:
  • Eurozone Q4 Employment Change +0.3% quarter-over-quarter (expected 0.2%; last 0.2%); +1.1% year-over-year (consensus 1.5%; last 1.2%)
  • UK's January Average Earnings Index + Bonus 2.2% (expected 2.4%; last 2.6%). February Claimant Count Change -11,300 (expected -5,000; last -41,400) and January Unemployment Rate 4.7% (expected 4.8%; previous 4.8%)
  • Italy's February CPI +0.4% month-over-month (expected 0.3%; last 0.3%); +1.6% year-over-year (consensus 1.5%; last 1.5%). January Retail Sales +1.4% month-over-month (expected 0.1%; last -0.5%); -0.1% year-over-year (last -0.2%)
  • France's February CPI +0.1% month-over-month, as expected (last 0.1%)
  • Swiss February PPI -0.2% month-over-month (expected 0.4%; last 0.4%); +1.3% year-over-year (consensus 1.8%; last 0.8%)

---Equity Markets---

• Germany's DAX trades up 0.1%. Commerzbank leads with a gain of 1.8% while Lufthansa, Adidas, Continental, Siemens, BASF, and Merch are up between 0.3% and 1.7%. On the downside, E.On is down 2.7% after showing relative strength yesterday.
• France's CAC has added 0.1%. Growth-sensitive names like TechnipFMC, Schneider Electric, ArcelorMittal, LafargeHolcim, and Total lead with gains between 0.8% and 1.7%. Automakers Peugeot and Renault underperform with respective losses of 1.6% and 3.7% amid accusations that Renault tampered with emissions data.
• UK's FTSE is higher by 0.2%. Hikma Pharmaceuticals has spiked 7.2% after beating earnings expectations while miners Rio Tinto, Antofagasta, Glencore, Anglo American, BHP Billiton, and Fresnillo show gains between 1.1% and 2.3%. Homebuilders Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey, and Barratt Developments lag with losses between 1.1% and 2.1%.
• Italy's MIB outperforms with a gain of 0.7%. Banco Bpm, Mediobanca, UniCredit, Intesa Sanpaolo, and Banca Mediolanum have added between 0.6% and 1.4%.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 S&P futures vs fair value: +4.30. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +7.10.

Crude oil has nudged equity futures higher this morning, but caution ahead of today's official rate decision from the Federal Open Market Committee has kept gains in check. The S&P 500 futures trade four points, or 0.2%, above fair value.

WTI crude trades 1.9% higher at $48.64/bbl this morning after the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported an unexpected draw of 0.531 million barrels on Tuesday evening. The bump puts the energy component on track to break its streak of six consecutive retreats, but that could change later this morning when the Energy Information Administration (EIA) releases its weekly inventory report. The report will cross the wires at 10:30 ET.

The two-day FOMC meeting in Washington will come to a close today with the official rate decision scheduled for 14:00 ET. It's pretty much a given that the U.S. central bank will increase the Fed funds target range by a quarter point, leaving investors more interested in the Fed's dot plot, which shows expectations for future rate changes.

U.S. Treasuries have seen an uptick in buying interest ahead of today's action with the benchmark 10-yr yield trading two basis points lower at 2.58%.

On the data front, the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index, which was released earlier this morning, increased 3.1% to follow last week's 3.3% uptick.

In addition, investors will receive February CPI (Briefing.com consensus 0.1%), February Retail Sales (Briefing.com consensus 0.1%), and March Empire Manufacturing (Briefing.com consensus 14.5) at 8:30 ET, with January Business Inventories (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%) and March NAHB Housing Market Index (Briefing.com consensus 65) following at 10:00 ET.

In U.S. corporate news:

• Intel (INTC 35.06, -0.12): -0.3% after the company's stock was downgraded to 'Neutral' from 'Outperform' at Credit Suisse.
• Hostess Brands (TWNK 15.85, -0.08): -0.5% after worse than expected earnings overshadowed better than expected revenues.
• Fogo De Chao (FOGO 14.00, +0.75): +5.7% after beating both top and bottom line estimates.

Reviewing overnight developments:

• Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region ended the midweek session on a mixed note, but trading ranges were narrow once again, as investors awaited the latest rate decision and policy statement from the Federal Reserve. The Bank of Japan will follow, releasing its own policy update on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei -0.2%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng -0.2%, China's Shanghai Composite +0.1%, India's Sensex -0.2%.
  • In economic data:
    • Japan's January Industrial Production -0.4% month-over-month (expected -0.8%; last -0.8%) and January Capacity Utilization +0.1% month-over-month (last 0.6%)
    • Australia's February New Motor Vehicle Sales -2.7% month-over-month (last 0.6%) and March Westpac Consumer Sentiment 0.1% (last 2.3%)
    • New Zealand's Q4 Current Account as % of GDP -2.7% (expected -2.8%; last -2.9%)
    • South Korea's February Unemployment Rate 4.0% (expected 3.7%; last 3.6%)
    • Singapore's Q4 Unemployment Rate 2.2% (last 2.2%)
  • In news:
    • China's Premier Li Keqiang called for an improvement in Sino-US relations. Mr. Li added that China's 6.5% GDP growth target is ambitious given external risks.

• Major European indices trade near their flat lines while Italy's MIB and Spain's IBEX outperform. Germany's DAX +0.1%, France's CAC +0.1%, UK's FTSE +0.2%, Italy's MIB +0.7%, Spain's IBEX +0.5%.
  • In economic data:
    • Eurozone Q4 Employment Change +0.3% quarter-over-quarter (expected 0.2%; last 0.2%); +1.1% year-over-year (consensus 1.5%; last 1.2%)
    • UK's January Average Earnings Index + Bonus 2.2% (expected 2.4%; last 2.6%). February Claimant Count Change -11,300 (expected -5,000; last -41,400) and January Unemployment Rate 4.7% (expected 4.8%; previous 4.8%)
    • Italy's February CPI +0.4% month-over-month (expected 0.3%; last 0.3%); +1.6% year-over-year (consensus 1.5%; last 1.5%). January Retail Sales +1.4% month-over-month (expected 0.1%; last -0.5%); -0.1% year-over-year (last -0.2%)
    • France's February CPI +0.1% month-over-month, as expected (last 0.1%)
    • Swiss February PPI -0.2% month-over-month (expected 0.4%; last 0.4%); +1.3% year-over-year (consensus 1.8%; last 0.8%)
  • In news:
    • In Scotland, a YouGov Times survey showed that 57.0% of voters support remaining in the United Kingdom.
    • French presidential candidate Francois Fillon was placed under a formal investigation for diversion of public funds.

 

 European Summary

European Bonds Rally with Treasuries Ahead of FOMC Decision 

• European sovereign debt is trading higher across the board this morning after the U.K. reported a worrying deceleration in wage growth in January. Total earnings rose by just 2.2% y/y, the slowest pace since April 2016. In the eurozone, employment grew faster than expected in the fourth quarter to its highest level since 2008. The unemployment rate is now 9.8%. Eurozone industrial production data for January has been a bit worrisome but that caveat aside, things are looking good for the eurozone economy. Dutch voters go to the polls today and results will start to be released around 15:00 ET. The final result will be known on March 21
• New Issuance:
  • Germany sold EUR815 mln of 30-year bunds with an average yield of 1.18% and a bid-to-cover ratio of 1.41
• Economic Data:
  • In the U.K., the Claimant Count Change for February was -11.3K, lower than expected but higher than January's -41.4K
    
    • Average earnings including bonuses grew by just 2.2% y/y in January, missing forecasts and slowing from February's 2.6%
    • The unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 4.7% in January (4.8% prior)
  • Eurozone employment grew by 0.3% q/q in the fourth quarter (1.1% y/y) to 153.9M, the highest level since 2008
    • Unemployment is now at seven-year low of 9.8%
  • In France, the CPI rose 0.1% m/m in February, meeting estimates and matching January's growth rate
  • Italy's CPI was up 0.4% m/m in February (1.6% y/y), exceeding both estimates and January's 0.3%
    
    • Italian retail sales jumped by 1.4% m/m in January (-0.1% y/y), handily beating estimates and reversing December's 0.5% slide
  • Switzerland's PPI fell by 0.2% m/m in February (+1.3% y/y), missing forecasts after a 0.4% jump in January
  • Turkish unemployment climbed to 12.7% in December, its highest level since 2010. November's reading was just 12.1%
• Yield Check:
  • France, 10-yr OAT: -2 bps to 1.07%
  • Germany, 10-yr bund: -2 bps to 0.43%
  • Greece, 10-yr note: -2 bps to 7.18%
  • Italy, 10-yr BTP: -4 bps to 2.31%
  • Portugal, 10-yr PGB: -1 bp to 3.94%
  • Spain, 10-yr ODE: -4 bps to 1.83%
  • U.K., 10-yr gilt: unch at 1.15%

 Gapping up

Gapping up
In reaction to strong earnings/guidance:

• PIP +28.8%, ARNA +23.2%, RST +12.2%, AXAS +11.5%, GTXI +10.2%, EVRI +8.3%, SLD +6.6%
• PWE +6.3%, FOGO +5.7%, ARCO +4.7%, CLDX +3.3%, DBVT +2.1%, QURE +1.3%, FAC +0.8%, FRAC +0.5%

M&A news:

• MSCI +11.6% (report that S&P Global might be considering a GBP 9 bln takeover of the company)

Select metals/mining stocks trading higher:

• DRD +3.3%, RIO +3.1%, CLF +3%, MT +2%, NEM +1.9%, BBL +1.8%, SBGL +1.7%, FCX +1.7%
• BHP +1.6%, GOLD +1.3%, AA +1.3%, AU +1.2%, GDX +1%, GG +1%

Select oil/gas related names showing strength:

• SDRL +3.9%, WFT +3.3%, WLL +2.1%, CHK +1.9%, MRO +1.8%, PBR +1.8%, RIG +1.7%, BP +0.9%, RDS.A +0.9%

Other news:

• TCON +11.1% (Announced that it entered into a Common Stock Purchase Agreement of up to $21 mln with Aspire Capital)
• CPRX +10.3% (positive results in a seven-patient trial evaluating Firdapse as a treatment for myasthenia gravis patients with anti-MuSK antibodies)
• CALL +9.5% (names Don Carlos Bell III as Chief Executive Officer, announces dual track approach to maximize shareholder value through strategic alternatives process and the execution of new business strategy )
• KITE +2.9% (Highlighted the publication of results in the Journal of Clinical Oncology from a National Cancer Institute study of anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy in patients with relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma)
• AI +2.1% (Affirmed an unchanged quarterly dividend of $0.625/share)
• TWO +1.1% (Increased its quarterly dividend to $0.25/share from $0.24/share)

Analyst comments:

• GOGL +9.3% (upgraded to Buy at Pareto Securities)
• SWN +5% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup)
• OXY +1.6% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill)
• REVG +1.5% (initiated with a Outperform at BMO Capital Markets)
• FNSR +1.4% (upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies)
• AMFW +1.3% (upgraded to Outperform from Mkt Perform at Raymond James)
• NFLX +0.8% (upgraded to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies)

 

 Gapping down

Gapping down
In reaction to disappointing earnings/guidance:

• RUBI -23.7%, CXRX -15.1%, NPTN -11.9%, IMUC -8.1%, OHAI -7.8%, FTD -7.7%, CNXR -5.8%
• INFI -5.1%, AKAO -5%, CBK -4.2%, TWI -4.2%, CELP -3%, CEL -1.9%, KURA -1.6%

Other news:

• DRWI -13.2% (announces it is raising approx. $1.79 mln in gross proceeds in an at-the-market registered direct offering and a concurrent private placement to institutional investors in the United States)
• NMM -11.2% (Agreed to sell approximately 47.6 mln common units in a registered direct offering at $2.10/unit)
• IMUC -8.1% (Confirmed that its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 contained an audit opinion from its independent registered public accounting firm that included a going concern emphasis of matter paragraph)
• ENDP -1.9% (Continued weakness following late day selloff on negative Advisory Committee vote)
• MU -1.7% (still checking)
• TWTR -1% (Early investor and long-time advocate Chris Sacca in series of tweets says no longer a shareholder, 'love the service, hate the stock')

Analyst comments:

• TTOO -3.6% (downgraded to Underweight from Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley)
• SNAP -2.3% (initiated with a Underweight at Cantor Fitzgerald)
• ESRX -2.2% (downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo)
• INTC -0.7% (downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse)

 Economic Data Generally In Line to Slightly Better Than Expected… S&P futures vs fair value: +4.50. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +6.60.

The S&P 500 futures trade five points above fair value.

Just in, total CPI rose 0.1% (Briefing.com consensus +0.1%) in February while core CPI, which excludes food and energy, increased 0.2% (Briefing.com consensus +0.2%). On a year-over-year basis, total CPI is up 2.7% and core CPI has increased 2.2%.

Separately, February retail sales increased 0.1%, which is in line with the Briefing.com consensus. The prior month's reading was revised higher to 0.6% from 0.4%. Excluding autos, retail sales rose 0.2% while the consensus expected an uptick of 0.1%. The prior month's reading was revised higher to 1.2% from 0.8%.

The Empire Manufacturing Survey for March rose to 16.4 from the prior month's reading of 18.7. The Briefing.com consensus estimate was pegged at 14.5.

 

 Gapping up/down: FOGO +6% after earnings, MSCI +12% after M&A spec, NFLX +1% after upgrade; FTD -8%, CBK -4% and TWI -4% after earnings, INTC -0.7% after dg

Gapping up
In reaction to strong earnings/guidance:

• PIP +28.8%, ARNA +23.2%, RST +12.2%, AXAS +11.5%, GTXI +10.2%, EVRI +8.3%, SLD +6.6%
• PWE +6.3%, FOGO +5.7%, ARCO +4.7%, CLDX +3.3%, DBVT +2.1%, QURE +1.3%, FAC +0.8%, FRAC +0.5%

M&A news:

• MSCI +11.6% (report that S&P Global might be considering a GBP 9 bln takeover of the company)

Select metals/mining stocks trading higher:

• DRD +3.3%, RIO +3.1%, CLF +3%, MT +2%, NEM +1.9%, BBL +1.8%, SBGL +1.7%, FCX +1.7%
• BHP +1.6%, GOLD +1.3%, AA +1.3%, AU +1.2%, GDX +1%, GG +1%

Select oil/gas related names showing strength:

• SDRL +3.9%, WFT +3.3%, WLL +2.1%, CHK +1.9%, MRO +1.8%, PBR +1.8%, RIG +1.7%, BP +0.9%, RDS.A +0.9%

Other news:

• TCON +11.1% (Announced that it entered into a Common Stock Purchase Agreement of up to $21 mln with Aspire Capital)
• CPRX +10.3% (positive results in a seven-patient trial evaluating Firdapse as a treatment for myasthenia gravis patients with anti-MuSK antibodies)
• CALL +9.5% (names Don Carlos Bell III as Chief Executive Officer, announces dual track approach to maximize shareholder value through strategic alternatives process and the execution of new business strategy )
• KITE +2.9% (Highlighted the publication of results in the Journal of Clinical Oncology from a National Cancer Institute study of anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy in patients with relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma)
• AI +2.1% (Affirmed an unchanged quarterly dividend of $0.625/share)
• TWO +1.1% (Increased its quarterly dividend to $0.25/share from $0.24/share)

Analyst comments:

• GOGL +9.3% (upgraded to Buy at Pareto Securities)
• SWN +5% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup)
• OXY +1.6% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill)
• REVG +1.5% (initiated with a Outperform at BMO Capital Markets)
• FNSR +1.4% (upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies)
• AMFW +1.3% (upgraded to Outperform from Mkt Perform at Raymond James)
• NFLX +0.8% (upgraded to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies)

Gapping down
In reaction to disappointing earnings/guidance:

• RUBI -23.7%, CXRX -15.1%, NPTN -11.9%, IMUC -8.1%, OHAI -7.8%, FTD -7.7%, CNXR -5.8%
• INFI -5.1%, AKAO -5%, CBK -4.2%, TWI -4.2%, CELP -3%, CEL -1.9%, KURA -1.6%

Other news:

• DRWI -13.2% (announces it is raising approx. $1.79 mln in gross proceeds in an at-the-market registered direct offering and a concurrent private placement to institutional investors in the United States)
• NMM -11.2% (Agreed to sell approximately 47.6 mln common units in a registered direct offering at $2.10/unit)
• IMUC -8.1% (Confirmed that its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 contained an audit opinion from its independent registered public accounting firm that included a going concern emphasis of matter paragraph)
• ENDP -1.9% (Continued weakness following late day selloff on negative Advisory Committee vote)
• MU -1.7% (still checking)
• TWTR -1% (Early investor and long-time advocate Chris Sacca in series of tweets says no longer a shareholder, 'love the service, hate the stock')

Analyst comments:

• TTOO -3.6% (downgraded to Underweight from Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley)
• SNAP -2.3% (initiated with a Underweight at Cantor Fitzgerald)
• ESRX -2.2% (downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo)
• INTC -0.7% (downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse)

 Gold and silver futures fall to new lows for the day following this batch of econ data (CPI, retail sales, Empire Manu)… although the moves were small (gold fell about $2 to $1198/oz)

• Apr gold futures are now -0.3% at $1198.50/oz
• May silver is -0.3% at $16.88/oz

Other commodities such as copper, oil and natural gas showed muted price action following

• Apr crude oil rose following the API data/IEA report
• Apr crude is now +2% at $48.65/barrel

 

 S&P futures vs fair value: +4.80. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +7.10.

The S&P 500 futures trade five points (0.2%) above fair value.

Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region ended the midweek session on a mixed note, but trading ranges were narrow once again, as investors awaited the latest rate decision and policy statement from the Federal Reserve. The Bank of Japan will follow, releasing its own policy update on Thursday. China's Premier Li Keqiang called for an improvement in Sino-US relations. Mr. Li added that China's 6.5% GDP growth target is ambitious given external risks.

• In economic data:
  • Japan's January Industrial Production -0.4% month-over-month (expected -0.8%; last -0.8%) and January Capacity Utilization +0.1% month-over-month (last 0.6%)
  • Australia's February New Motor Vehicle Sales -2.7% month-over-month (last 0.6%) and March Westpac Consumer Sentiment 0.1% (last 2.3%)
  • New Zealand's Q4 Current Account as % of GDP -2.7% (expected -2.8%; last -2.9%)
  • South Korea's February Unemployment Rate 4.0% (expected 3.7%; last 3.6%)
  • Singapore's Q4 Unemployment Rate 2.2% (last 2.2%)

---Equity Markets---

• Japan's Nikkei shed 0.2%. Toshiba plunged 12.2% after submitting its internal controls report to the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Nippon Sheet Glass, Nisshin Steel Holdings, SUMCO, Furukawa Electric, Nitto Denko, Advantest, and Kobe Steel lost between 1.5% and 4.3%.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.2% amid losses in more than half of its components. Cathay Pac Air fell 1.4% while financials like Hang Seng Bank, ICBC, Bank of China, China Life Insurance, Bank of East Asia, and China Construction Bank lost between 0.3% and 0.9%.
• China's Shanghai Composite added 0.1%. Xinjiang Yilite Industry, Long Yuan Construction, Chongqing Wanli New Energy, and Hangxiao Steel Structure all gained near 4.0% apiece.
• India's Sensex ended lower by 0.2%. Tech consultants Tata Consultancy, Infosys, and Wipro lost between 1.4% and 2.4% while financials were mixed. ICICI Bank lost 0.6%, AXIS Bank added 0.2%, and HDFC Bank rose 0.5%.

Major European indices trade near their flat lines while Italy's MIB (+0.7%) and Spain's IBEX (+0.7%) outperform. Today's mostly range-bound action comes ahead of the latest FOMC rate decision and today's general election in the Netherlands. In Scotland, a YouGov Times survey showed that 57.0% of voters support remaining in the United Kingdom. Also of note, French presidential candidate Francois Fillon was placed under a formal investigation for diversion of public funds.

• In economic data:
  • Eurozone Q4 Employment Change +0.3% quarter-over-quarter (expected 0.2%; last 0.2%); +1.1% year-over-year (consensus 1.5%; last 1.2%)
  • UK's January Average Earnings Index + Bonus 2.2% (expected 2.4%; last 2.6%). February Claimant Count Change -11,300 (expected -5,000; last -41,400) and January Unemployment Rate 4.7% (expected 4.8%; previous 4.8%)
  • Italy's February CPI +0.4% month-over-month (expected 0.3%; last 0.3%); +1.6% year-over-year (consensus 1.5%; last 1.5%). January Retail Sales +1.4% month-over-month (expected 0.1%; last -0.5%); -0.1% year-over-year (last -0.2%)
  • France's February CPI +0.1% month-over-month, as expected (last 0.1%)
  • Swiss February PPI -0.2% month-over-month (expected 0.4%; last 0.4%); +1.3% year-over-year (consensus 1.8%; last 0.8%)

---Equity Markets---

• Germany's DAX trades flat. Commerzbank leads with a gain of 2.3% while Lufthansa, Adidas, Continental, Siemens, BASF, and Merck are up between 0.3% and 1.7%. On the downside, E.On is down 2.2% after showing relative strength yesterday.
• France's CAC has added 0.1%. Growth-sensitive names like TechnipFMC, Schneider Electric, ArcelorMittal, LafargeHolcim, and Total lead with gains between 1.0% and 1.4%. Automakers Peugeot and Renault underperform with respective losses of 0.8% and 2.3% amid accusations that Renault tampered with emissions data.
• UK's FTSE is higher by 0.2%. Hikma Pharmaceuticals has spiked 7.0% after beating earnings expectations while miners Rio Tinto, Antofagasta, Glencore, Anglo American, BHP Billiton, and Fresnillo show gains between 0.7% and 2.6%. Homebuilders Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey, and Barratt Developments lag with losses between 0.5% and 1.4%.
• Italy's MIB outperforms with a gain of 0.7%. Banco Bpm, Mediobanca, UniCredit, Intesa Sanpaolo, and Banca Mediolanum have added between 0.2% and 1.7%.

 

 

 

 GTX +10.2% pre-market after reporting Q4 results & providing a corporate update  (5.28)

• GTX reported Q4 GAAP EPS of ($0.44), vs the ($0.57) single analyst estimate.
• As of Dec 31, 2016, cash and short-term investments were $21.9 million compared to $29.3 million at Dec 31, 2015.
• Corporate update:
  • AR+TNBC: The co expects to have sufficient data from Stage 1 of the trial by the second quarter of 2017 to determine if patient enrollment should continue into Stage 2 of the trial.
  • Stress Urinary Incontinence: The co expects to have top-line results from the trial in the third quarter of 2017.
  • Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer: It is anticipated that a first in human clinical trial of a SARD will be initiated during the second half of 2017.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Hearing Veritiv was initiated premarket with a Market Perform at Wells Fargo  (56.15 +0.20)

 

 

 Opening Market Summary: Equity Indices Start Wednesday in the Green

The S&P 500 opens Wednesday's session with a modest gain of 0.2%.

The materials (+0.6%) and energy (+0.6%) sectors lead with the latter space benefiting from crude oil's advance. The energy component trades 1.4% higher at $48.41/bbl after the API's latest inventory report showed an unexpected draw of 0.531 million barrels. 

Meanwhile, the top-weighted technology group (unch) underperforms as chipmakers weigh; the PHLX Semiconductor Index trades lower by 0.2%.

 

 Rite Aid ticking lower in recent trade following new report that FTC might have issues with pending Walgreens (WBA) merger  (4.82 -0.04)Related Stocks: FRED

 

 

 

 

 

 

 MSCI shares resume trading  (98.50 +2.17)