Market Snapshot
Asia: Japan +1.4% to 19909. Hong Kong +2.8% to 27850. China +1.8% to 4294. India -0.8% to 27676.
Europe: London -0.1%. Paris +0.1%. Frankfurt +0.7%.
Futures: Dow +0.4%. S&P +0.5%. Nasdaq +0.5%. Crude -0.4% to $57.68. Gold +0.3% to $1197.80.
Ten-year Treasury Yield +5 bps to 1.9%
Economic News
8:55 Chain Store Sales
Key earnings before the open
ABG, ACI, AMTD, ARMH, ATI, BHI, CLS, CP, CS, DD, DOV, EAT, EDU, FITB, GCI, GPC, HOG, ITW, JAKK, KMB, KSU, LECO, LMT, LPT, MAN, MLNX, MTG, NTRS, NVR, OMC, PCAR, PNR, RF, SAH, SAP, SBNY, SNV, TCB, TRV, TTS, UA, UTX, VZ, WIT
Key earnings after the close
ACE, ADTN, AMGN, BRCM, CAMP, CMG, CREE, DFS, DLB, EWBC, FTI, FULT, HTS, IBKR, ILMN, INFN, IRBT, ISRG, MANH, NBR, PFPT, SMCI, SYK, URI, VASC, VMW, YHOO, YUM, ZIXI
Markets
U.S. stock futures move higher this morning, with investors focusing in on earnings from prominent companies, including Dow components DuPont, United Technologies and Verizon. A rally in Asia also helped boost the market stocks ahead of the open, buoyed by continued optimism over China’s move on Sunday to stimulate its economy by cutting the reserve ratio for banks.
With continued concerns over Greece, the euro slid overnight on worries that the cash-strapped country may default on its debt and eventually exit the single currency. On Monday, Athens ordered public bodies such as state-owned companies and public pension funds to transfer their reserves to the central bank to help with cash squeezes and upcoming payments.
Chinese shares flew up again overnight, after tumbling yesterday due to pressure from the country’s recent move on margin trading. Shanghai shares gained +1.8%, while the Hang Seng ripped +2.8% higher.
Stocks
The U.S. Department of Justice is now pushing for five banks, including JPMorgan (JPM), Barclays (BCS), Citigroup (C), RBS (RBS) and UBS (UBS), to reach a joint mega settlement to allegations they manipulated the foreign exchange markets. The deal would see some institutions pay about $1B each and is scheduled for mid-May.
DuPont & Co. (DD) reported a drop in first-quarter earnings, partly due to the impact from a stronger dollar. It also said that the strengthening greenback will dent its earnings for the full year more than it initially forecast in January. Shares inched higher ahead of the bell, however.
General Electric (GE) is in early-stage talks with Wells Fargo (WFC) about selling its entire $74B U.S. commercial lending and leasing portfolio as part of its plans to continue dismantling its banking business. GE is also in talks with other bidders. Wells, along with Blackstone (BX) was the buyer of nearly $30B of real estate-related assets from GE eleven days ago.
David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital has taken a new long position in General Motors (GM), nearly a year after exiting its position in the automaker. The fund believes GM’s recall issues have fizzled, and expects the company to top EPS estimates this year – with buybacks and strong demand providing a tailwind.
Harley-Davidson (HDI) is trading lower after it cut its shipment outlook for the year.
Although it beat first-quarter earnings expectations, revenue for IBM (IBM) fell 12% in Q1, marking the company’s 12th straight quarter of year-over-year sales declines.
With a weaker euro boosting revenue from markets including the U.S., SAP (SAP) reported first-quarter sales that topped analysts’ estimates, rising 22% to €4.5B. Excluding the boost from currency swings, operating profit and profit margins declined during the quarter, mainly due to acquisitions including Concur Technologies and Fieldglass.
Teva (TEVA) makes a hosile offer for rival Mylan (MYL), in what appears to be the drug industry’s largest takeover attempt this year. Mylan has a market value of $33.3B. On Friday, Mylan said it’s not interested in a sale and doesn’t expect a potential combination to clear antitrust hurdles.
United Technologies (UTX) reported a 20% rise in first-quarter profit per share.
Under Armour (UA) shares slump as sales fell below expectations due to currency volatility and cost related to acquisitions.
Verizon (VZ) easily topped Wall Street forecasts with earnings of $4.34 billion, or $1.02 a share.
According to a new filing, Yahoo (YHOO) and Microsoft (MSFT) have amended the terms of their 10-year search pact to allow either party to terminate their agreement at any point in time on or after Oct. 1. Under the original deal, which began in February 2010, Yahoo could only terminate the pact if the revenue from each search failed to meet certain financial-performance benchmarks. The two also restructured the agreement’s search terms last week, stating the partnership is non-exclusive for both desktop and mobile.