Barchart Morning Call

Mar E-mini S&Ps (ESH17 -0.08%) are little changed, down -0.07% in uninspired trade, and European stocks are down -0.37% on weakness in bank stocks. Spanish bank stocks sold-off, with Banco Sabadell SA down over 7% and Banco Popular down 10%, which put pressure on the overall market after the EU Court of Justice ruled that borrowers in Spain who paid too much interest on home loans pre-dating a May 2013 Spanish court ruling on mortgage floors are entitled to a refund from their banks. Stock losses were contained on strength in energy producing companies as Feb WTI crude oil (CLG17 +0.56%) is up +0.68% after the API reported late yesterday that U.S. crude supplies dropped -4.15 million bbl last week. Also, reduced market anxiety is positive for stock prices as the VIX volatility index slid to a 4-1/4 month low. Asian stocks settled mixed: Japan -0.26%, Hong Kong +0.37%, China +1.11%, Taiwan -0.41%, Australia +0.40%, Singapore -0.33%, South Korea -0.19%, India -0.25%. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Index posted a new 1-year high, but gave up its advance and closed lower as the yen strengthened against the dollar, which undercut exporter stocks.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.35%) is down -0.15%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.21%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.48%.

Mar 10-year T-note prices (ZNH17 +0.05%) are up +2 ticks and garnered support from a rally in German bunds which climbed to a 3-week high.

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) weekly MBA mortgage applications (previous -4.0% with purchase sub-index -3.3% and refi sub-index -3.6%), (2) Nov existing home sales (expected -1.8% to 5.50 million, Oct +2.0% to 5.60 million), (3) EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report.

Russell 1000 earnings reports today include: Accenture (consensus $1.50), Paychex (0.56), Bed Bath & Beyond (0.98), Red Hat (0.58), Micron Technology (0.27), Orbital ATK (1.39).

U.S. IPO’s scheduled to price today: none.

Equity conferences this week: none.

Goldman Sachs (GS +1.68%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Overweight’ at Atlantic Securities with a 12-month target price of $240.

JetBlue Airways (JBLU +1.24%) was downgraded to ‘Market Perform’ from ‘Outperform’ at Raymond James.

Sunoco LP (SUN -8.02%) was upgraded to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Neutral’ at Credit Suisse with a target price of $31.

Goldcorp (GG -0.40%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at TD Securities with a 12-month target price of $18.50.

Texas Instruments (TXN +0.64%) was rated a new ‘Positive’ at Susquehanna with a 12-month target price of $85.

Fluor (FLR -0.57%) gained 1% in after-hours trading after it was awarded a contract by Novo Nordisk to build a $2 billion manufacturing facility in Clayton, North Carolina.

BB&T (BBT +1.69%) boosted its 2016/17 share buyback program by $200 million.

Nike (NKE +1.85%) climbed 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 EPS of 50 cents, higher than consensus of 43 cents. Under Armour (UAA -0.33%) also gained 1% on the news.

FedEx (FDX +0.57%) dropped 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS of $2.80, weaker than consensus of $2.91.

DexCom (DXCM +0.08%) gained almost 2% in after-hours trading after the FDA approved its G5 Mobile CGM system as the first and only continuous glucose monitoring system that can be used without finger pricking to test glucose levels.

Steelcase (SCS +3.38%) slumped 8% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 revenue of $786.5 million, less than consensus of $787 million, and then lowered guidance on Q4 revenue to $735 million-$760 million, below consensus of $762 million.

Mar E-mini S&Ps (ESH17 -0.08%) this morning are down -1.50 points (-0.07%). Tuesday’s closes: S&P 500 +0.36%, Dow Jones +0.46%, Nasdaq +0.38%. The S&P 500 on Tuesday closed higher on carry-over support from a rally in Japan’s Nikkei Stock Index to a 1-year high after Japan’s Cabinet Office raised its Japan 2017 GDP forecast to 1.5% from +1.2%. In addition, energy producer stocks were boosted as the price of crude oil rose +0.85%.

Mar 10-year T-notes (ZNH17 +0.05%) this morning are up +2 ticks. Tuesday’s closes: TYH7 -4.50, FVH7 -2.25. Mar 10-year T-notes on Tuesday closed lower on reduced safe-haven demand with the rally in stocks and on higher inflation expectations from the rally in crude oil prices.

The dollar index (DXY00 -0.35%) this morning is down -0.160 (-0.15%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is up +0.0022 (+0.21%). USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.57 (-0.48%). Tuesday’s closes: Dollar index +0.150 (+0.15%), EUR/USD -0.0014 (-0.13%), USD/JPY +0.77 (+0.66%). The dollar index on Tuesday rallied to a 14-year high and closed higher on the increase in the 10-year T-note yield. In addition, there was strength in USD/JPY after the BOJ maintained its asset-purchase program and Japan’s Cabinet Office lowered its Japan 2017 CPI estimate, which bolsters the case for additional BOJ easing.

Feb WTI crude oil prices (CLG17 +0.56%) this morning are up +36 cents (+0.68%) and Feb gasoline (RBG17 +0.35%) is +0.0059 (+0.37%) at a new 1-1/2 month high. Tuesday’s closes: Feb crude +0.45 (+0.85%), Feb gasoline +0.0349 (+2.20%). Feb crude oil and gasoline on Tuesday closed higher with Feb gasoline at a 1-1/2 month high. Crude oil prices were boosted by expectations for Wednesday’s EIA crude inventories to decline by -2.5 million bbl and by the increase in the crack spread to a 1-1/2 month high, which may boost refinery demand for crude to refine into gasoline. Crude oil prices were undercut by the rise in the dollar index to a 14-year high.