Barchart Morning Call

Jun E-mini S&Ps (ESM17 +0.12%) this morning are up +0.06% as better-than-expected quarterly earnings results from Honeywell and GE gives the overall market a boost. European stocks are little changed, down -0.06%, as the markets await Sunday’s first round of presidential elections in France that are too close to call. Losses in European stocks were limited after Eurozone Apr manufacturing activity unexpectedly expanded. Asian stocks settled mostly higher: Japan +1.03%, Hong Kong -0.06%, China +0.03%, Taiwan +0.88%, Australia +0.56%, Singapore +0.06%, South Korea +0.82%, India -0.19%. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Index rose to a 1-week high on signs the BOJ will continue with its overly easy monetary policies after BOJ Governor Kuroda said the BOJ will maintain its current pace of asset purchases for some time and that “it’s premature to discuss in an exact way about exit strategy.” The BOJ meets next week and will update its estimates for growth and consumer prices.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.18%) is up +0.13%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.16%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.21%.

Jun 10-year T-note prices (ZNM17 +0.05%) are up +2.5 ticks.

The Eurozone Apr manufacturing PMI unexpectedly rose +0.6 to 56.8, stronger than expectations of -0.2 to 56.0 and the fastest pace of expansion since the data series began in 2014. The Mar Markit composite PMI rose +0.3 to 56.7, stronger than expectations of unch at 56.4 and the fastest pace of expansion since the data series began in 2014.

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari (voter) participates in a Q&A at the Hamline University Community Economic Development Symposium in St. Paul, MN, (2) Apr Markit manufacturing PMI (expected +0.5 to 53.8, Mar -0.9 to 53.3) and Apr Markit services PMI (expected +0.4 to 53.2, Mar -1.0 to 52.8), (3) Mar existing home sales (expected +2.2% to 5.60 million, Feb -3.7% to 5.48 million), (4) USDA Mar Cattle on Feed.

Notable S&P 500 earnings reports today include: GE (consensus $0.17), Honeywell (1.63), SunTrust Banks (0.84), Stanley Black & Decker (1.20), Kansas City Southern (1.16), Rockwell Collins (1.30), Schlumberger (0.25), Interpublic (0.03), NextEra Energy (1.56).

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

Equity conferences: none.

Costco (COST +0.05%) was upgraded to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Equalweight’ at Barclays with a price target of $185.

Visa (V +1.56%) rose almost 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 86 cents, better than consensus of 79 cents

Maxim Integrated Products (MXIM +1.93%) gained 1% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 56 cents, higher than consensus of 52 cents.

NCR Corp (NCR +2.79%) fell over 2% in after-hours trading after it said it sees Q2 adjusted EPS of 72 cents-77 cents, below consensus of 78 cents.

Proofpoint (PFPT -8.53%) jumped 7% in after-hours trading after it said it expects full-year revenue of $496 million-$500 million, above consensus of $492.3 million.

Electronics for Imaging (EFII +1.21%) slumped 11% in after-hours trading after it said it sees Q2 adjusted EPS of 54 cents-60 cents, below consensus of 63 cents.

Mattel (MAT +0.40%) dropped over 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 net sales of $735.6 million, weaker than consensus of $790.5 million on “inventory overhang.”

E*TRADE Financial (ETFC +2.67%) rose almost 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 total net revenue of $553 million, higher than consensus of $532.9 million.

Manhattan Associates (MANH +0.04%) slid 8% in after-hours trading after it cut its full-year revenue estimate to $606 million-$620 million from a prior estimate of $622 million-$632 million, below consensus of $624.7 million.

Hawaiian Holdings (HA +2.77%) gained over 1% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 adjusted EPS of $1.04, better than consensus of 86 cents.

Gramercy Property Trust (GPT +0.99%) fell over 3% in after-hours trading after it announced that it has commenced an underwritten public offering of 9.0 million common shares. It also reported preliminary Q1 core FFO of 50 cents-51 cents a share, below consensus of 53 cents.

Vascular Biogenics Ltd (VBLT unch) surged 16% in after-hours trading after it said a Data Safety Monitoring Committee review of the Phase 3 study for its VB-111 was unanimously recommended to continue as planned.

Adamis Pharmaceuticals (ADMP -2.22%) sank nearly 15% in after-hours trading after it announced that it intends to offer to sell shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering, although no size was given.

Jun E-mini S&Ps (ESM17 +0.12%) this morning are up +1.50 points (+0.06%). Thursday’s closes: S&P 500 +0.76%, Dow Jones +0.85%, Nasdaq +0.81%. The S&P 500 on Thursday rallied to a 1-week high and closed higher on the -49,000 decline in U.S. weekly continuing unemployment claims to 1.979 million (a bigger drop than expectations of -4,000 to 2.024 million and the fewest in 17-years) and the +0.4% gain in U.S. Mar leading indicators (stronger than expectations of +0.2%). Stocks also found support on stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings results from CSX and American Express.

Jun 10-year T-notes (ZNM17 +0.05%) this morning are up +2.5 ticks. Thursday’s closes: TYM7 -10.50, FVM7 -6.75. Jun 10-year T-notes on Thursday closed lower on negative carry-over from a drop in German bunds to a 2-week low on reduced political risks in France after polls showed pro-EU candidate Macron leading before Sunday’s first round of France’s presidential election. T-notes were also undercut by reduced safe-haven demand due to the rally in stocks.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.18%) this morning is up +0.125 (+0.13%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.0017 (-0.16%) and USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.23 (-0.21%). Thursday’s closes: Dollar index +0.40 (+0.40%), EUR/USD +0.0006 (+0.06%), USD/JPY +0.46 (+0.42%). The dollar index on Thursday recovered from a 3-week low and closed higher on weakness in the yen as USD/JPY rose to a 1-week high after BOJ Governor Kuroda said that the current pace of BOJ asset purchases will continue for some time. The dollar was also boosted by higher T-note yields on Thursday, which slightly boosted the dollar’s interest rate differentials. A bearish factor was strength in EUR/USD which rallied to a 3-week high on reduced political risks from France after the latest polls show pro-EU candidate Macron with a slight lead in France’s presidential election.

Jun WTI crude oil prices (CLM17 -0.18%) this morning are up +2 cents (+0.04%) and Jun gasoline (RBM17 +0.18%) is +0.0054 (+0.32%). Thursday’s closes: Jun crude -0.14 (-0.28%), Jun gasoline +0.0079 (+0.47%). Jun crude oil and gasoline on Thursday settled mixed. Crude oil prices were boosted by the fall in the dollar index to a 3-week low and by comments from Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Khalid Al-Falih who said an “initial agreement” was reached to extend OPEC supply cuts past Jun. The main bearish factor is ramped up U.S. crude production that offsets OPEC output cuts as Wednesday’s EIA data showed a +0.2% increase in U.S. crude production in the week of Apr 14 to a 1-1/2 year high of 9.252 million bpd.