Day Traders Diary

03/19/14

U.S. equity futures trade little changed amid quiet action overseas. The S&P 500 futures hover less than a point above fair value.
Reviewing overnight developments:
Asian markets ended on a mixed note. Japan's Nikkei +0.4%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng -0.1%, and China's Shanghai Composite -0.2%.
Participants received several economic data points:
Japan's trade deficit narrowed to JPY1.13 trillion from JPY1.76 trillion (expected deficit of JPY890 billion) as exports rose 9.8% year-over-year (consensus 12.4%, prior 9.5%) and imports expanded 9.0% (expected 7.4%, last 25.0%). Separately, All Industries Activity Index rose 1.0% (consensus 1.3%, prior -0.1%).
Australia's MI Leading Index slipped 0.1% month-over-month (prior -0.1%).
New Zealand's current account deficit narrowed to NZD1.43 billion from NZD4.88 billion.
South Korea's PPI was unchanged month-over-month (prior 0.3%).
In news:
Japan's trade deficit marked the 20th consecutive negative trade balance reading and was the eight below-consensus reading out of the last nine.
Major European indices trade mixed. Great Britain's FTSE -0.1%, France's CAC +0.1%, and Germany's DAX +0.7%. Elsewhere, Spain's IBEX +0.4% and Italy's MIB -0.1%.
In economic data:
Eurozone Labor Cost Index increased 1.4% year-over-year (prior 1.1%).
Great Britain's Claimant Count decreased 34,600 (expected -25,000, prior -33,900) while the unemployment rate held steady at 7.2%, as expected.
French current account deficit widened to EUR3.90 billion from EUR1.20 billion.
Among news of note:
The minutes from the latest Bank of England policy meeting indicated a unanimous vote to stay the course, keeping the benchmark interest rate at 0.5%.
In U.S. corporate news:

FedEx (FDX 136.30, -2.27): -1.6% after missing the Capital IQ consensus estimate by $0.25 on below-consensus revenue. The logistics company guided fourth-quarter earnings in-line with estimates.
Oracle (ORCL 37.89, -0.95): -2.5% after missing bottom-line estimates on revenue that was in-line with analyst expectations.
SolarCity (SCTY 75.95, -1.15): -1.5% after its below-consensus guidance overshadowed better-than-expected earnings and revenue.
The weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index fell 1.2% to follow last week's decline of 2.1%.

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