Market Snapshot
Asia: Japan -0.1% to 18585. Hong Kong +0.1% to 24778. China -0.5% to 3229. India flat at 29008.
Europe: London -0.4%. Paris -0.3%. Frankfurt -0.1%.
Futures: Dow flat. S&P -0.1%. Nasdaq -0.2%. Crude +0.3% to $49.45. Gold +1% to $1208.80.
Ten-year Treasury Yield -5 bps to 1.98%
Economic News
7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications
10:00 New Home Sales
10:00 Yellen testimony at House
10:30 EIA Petroleum Inventories
Key Earnings before the open
AEE, AVA, BBG, BSFT, CCOI, CHK, CLH, CPB, CVC, DIN, DLTR, ECA, EE, EV, FI, FMS, HFC, ICLR, ISLE, JAKK, LAD, LAMR, LL, LOW, MEMP, MGA, MWE, NVDQ, OCR, PERI, RRD, RY, SMP, SODA, STRZA, STWD, TDS, TGT, TJX, USM
Key earnings after the close
AEGN, AGO, AR, AREX, ARI, AVGO, AWR, BLDP, BMRN, BWC, CEMP, CHDN, CHMT, CLUB, CLVS, CRM, CSGP, CWT, CXO, DRYS, DXCM, EAC, EHTH, ELGX, EPAM, ESRT, ESV, FARO, FOE, GMED, GPOR, HK, IL, KW, LB, LHCG, MCHX, MDVN, MELI, OAS, ORIG, PGTI, PLKI, PRSS, PVA, RGR, RIG, RIGP, SYNC, TEG, WLL, WMGI, WPX, WR
Markets
U.S. stocks open flat this morning as investors remain cautious ahead of another day of testimony by Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen. Downbeat results from Hewlett-Packard Inc. weighed on technology stocks, while earnings reports from retailers, such as Target, Lowe’s and Dollar Tree looked encouraging.
The Dow and S&P 500 hit new records yesterday, closing at 18,209 and 2,115, respectively, as investors interpreted Yellen’s omission of the word “patient” from her testimony yesterday as a signal of a change in policy. She also announced that the policymaking body would now decide on rates “on a meeting-by-meeting basis.”
China’s factory sector edged up to a four-month high in February but export orders shrank at their fastest rate in 20 months, painting a gloomy outlook that may require more policy support from the government. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s GDP was reported to have slowed to 2.3% in 2014 and weakened to 0.4% in the fourth quarter as pro-democracy protests froze parts of the city.
Stocks
Anthem(ANTM) which earlier this month reported that it was hit by a massive cyberbreach, has concluded that the personal information of 78.8M customers was exposed in the attack, including 8.8M-18.8M people who were members of independently run Blue Cross Blue Shield plans.
Apple (AAPL) has been ordered to pay $532.9M after a federal jury found its iTunes software infringed three of Smartflash’s patents that relate to accessing and storing downloaded songs, videos and games.
BNY Mellon (BK) is in settlement talks with the DOJ and New York AG over claims that it defrauded clients in foreign exchange transactions. The bank faces several lawsuits, including class actions, stemming from allegations that it misled clients about how it determined currency exchange rates for certain transactions.
DreamWorks Animation swung to a loss with advance writedowns on films The Penguins of Madagascar and Mr. Peabody and Sherman. Net loss came in at $263.2M, or $3.08 per share, compared with a profit of $17.2M, or $0.20 per share, a year earlier. The results also featured the impact of its plans for heavy layoffs; DreamWorks Animation took a $210.1M pre-tax charge associated with restructuring.
GoDaddy has declared plans to list on the NYSE under the symbol “GDDY” and announced IPO underwriters including Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Citi and others. The company is reportedly seeking a $4.5B IPO valuation. Revenue for 2014 at the Web hosting/domain name services provider came in at $1.39B, while net loss was $143.3M. Bookings were at $1.68, well above revenue.
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) reported weak quarterly revenue at all its operating units yesterday, and forecast earnings below analysts’ expectations due to the strong U.S. dollar. Revenue as a whole dropped 4.7% to $26.83B in the first quarter ended Jan. 31, with revenue from the company’s enterprise services unit falling 11%. It expects FQ2 EPS of $0.84-$0.88 vs. a $0.92 consensus and FY15 EPS of $3.53-$3.73 vs. a $3.95
As expected, President Obama swiftly vetoed a bill approving TransCanada’s (TRP) Keystone XL oil pipeline, leaving the long-debated project in limbo for another indefinite period. Immediately after receiving the veto message, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, countered by announcing the Republican-led chamber would attempt to override it by March 3.
Moody’s has once again cut Petrobras’ (NYSE:PBR) ratings two steps into junk, and placed the new Ba2 ratings on review for downgrade. The ratings agency said the downgrade reflects increasing concern about the corruption investigations and liquidity pressures that might result from the delay of its audited financial statements.
Southwest Airlines (LUV) took 128 of its jets out of service late Tuesday, or roughly one-fifth of its fleet, after informing federal regulators that it “inadvertently omitted” required maintenance checks on the planes’ backup hydraulic systems. Dozens of flights were immediately canceled as a result.