Day Traders Diary

9/18/14

U.S. equity futures trade modestly higher amid upbeat action overseas. The S&P 500 futures hover seven points above fair value after climbing to highs after the start of the European session. That is somewhat fitting considering Europe, and specifically Scotland, will be in focus this evening with the referendum on independence taking place at this time. Referendum results are not expected until well after today's closing bell considering regions like Dundee and Glasgow will not report their results until 3:00 AM and 5:00 AM local time, respectively.

Domestically, participants have received a handful of quarterly earnings, but the reports are not expected to have market-moving impact. On the economic front, weekly Initial Claims (Briefing.com consensus 305K) and August Housing Starts (consensus 1045K)/Building Permits (expected 1054K) will be released at 8:30 ET, while the Philadelphia Fed survey for September (consensus 23.5) will cross the wires at 10:00 ET.

Treasuries hold slim gains with the 10-yr yield down one basis point at 2.62%.

In U.S. corporate news of note:

Pier 1 Imports (PIR 13.75, -1.79): -11.5% after missing earnings/revenue estimates and lowering its guidance for the full year.
Rite Aid (RAD 5.96, -0.68): -10.2% after its cautious guidance overshadowed its bottom-line beat.
United Natural Foods (UNFI 65.70, +2.09): +3.3% in reaction to better than expected results and a modest increase in guidance.
Reviewing overnight developments:

Asian markets ended mostly higher. Hong Kong's Hang Seng -0.9%, China's Shanghai Composite +0.4%, and Japan's Nikkei +1.1%
In economic data:
Japan's trade deficit narrowed to JPY920 billion from JPY1.02 trillion (expected deficit of JPY990 billion) as exports fell 1.3% (consensus -2.6%; previous 3.9%) and imports declined 1.5% (forecast -1.2%; prior 2.3%)
China's House Prices ticked up 0.5% year-over-year (expected 2.3%; previous 2.5%)
Hong Kong's Unemployment Rate held steady at 3.3% (consensus 3.4%; prior 3.3%)
New Zealand's GDP rose 0.7% quarter-over-quarter (expected 0.6%; previous 1.0%)
In news:
The disappointing House Price report from China revealed a month-over-month decline in 68 out of 70 cities after the prior report showed declines in 64 cities.
Major European indices trade higher across the board. Great Britain's FTSE +0.5%, France's CAC +0.6%, and Germany's DAX +1.0%. Elsewhere, Italy's MIB +0.4% and Spain's IBEX +0.8%
Participants received several data points:
Great Britain's Retail Sales ticked up 0.4% month-over-month, as expected, while the year-over-year reading increased 3.9% (forecast 4.1%; last 2.5%). Core Retail Sales rose 0.2% month-over-month (consensus 0.3%; previous 0.4%), while the year-over-year reading increased 4.5% (forecast 4.8%; last 3.3%). Also of note, CBI Industrial Trends Orders fell to -4 from 11 (expected 9)
Swiss trade surplus narrowed to CHF1.39 billion from CHF3.90 billion (expected surplus of CHF2.32 billion)
Among news of note:
The Swiss National Bank maintained its key interest rate at 0.25% and made no changes to the euro/franc floor at 1.2000, but warned that risk of deflation has increased once again.
The European Central Bank has allotted EUR82.60 billion in TLTRO funds against market expectations for EUR133.00 billion.

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