The Before the Bell report is constantly updated to reflect the latest news developments and market moves in the premarket. Check back later for updates.
U.S. and Canadian stock futures are edging up this morning, with European markets moving in the other direction, as traders took in U.S. jobless claims and GDP data that came in largely as expected.
U.S. and Canadian markets sold off into the close on Wednesday, with the TSX sliding 0.8 per cent and the S&P 500 0.7 per cent. Other than the usual worries about the unfolding situation in the Ukraine and concerns the bull market is looking mature, there was little news to account for the selloff. Some suggest it was simply quarter-end rebalancing of risk among traders, noting that profit-taking was most accute among momentum stocks, including some of the higher-flying technology names. The benchmark S&P 500 index has largely gone nowhere this quarter, sitting with a 0.2 per cent gain as of this morning. If that gain holds until Monday, it would mark the fifth straight quarterly advance.
Asian stocks were mixed overnight, with the Nikkei up 1 per cent with the help of a weak Japanese yen. Chinese stocks pulled back a bit as more data confirmed the slowing economic trend: industrial profits rose 9.4 per cent in the first two months of the year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, down from 12.2 per cent growth in December.
Lululemon is out with earnings this morning, resulting in some volatile premarket trading, and U.S. bank stocks will be in the spotlight today after the release of stress tests late Wednesday.
More on those stocks, and what else is going on this morning, below.
MARKETS:
Equities:
Futures: S&P 500 +0.14 per cent; Dow +0.14 per cent; Nasdaq +0.08 per cent; S&P Toronto +0.05 per cent
Hong Kong's Hang Seng -0.25 per cent
Shanghai composite index -0.81 per cent
Japan's Nikkei +1.01 per cent
London's FTSE 100 -0.50 per cent
Germany's DAX -0.21 per cent
France's CAC 40 -0.32 per cent
Commodities:
WTI crude oil (Nymex May) +0.31 per cent at $100.57 (U.S.) a barrel
Gold (Comex Apr) -0.78 per cent at $1,293.30 (U.S.) an ounce
Copper (Comex May) +0.73 per cent at $2.99 (U.S.) a pound
Currencies:
Canadian dollar at 90.10 (U.S.), up 0.0001
U.S. dollar index up 0.08 at 80.11
Bonds:
U.S. 10-year Treasury yield 2.71 per cent, up 0.01
ECONOMIC INDICATORS:
U.S. new weekly jobless claims last week fell to 311,000 from 320,000 the week prior. Street was expecting about 325,000.
U.S. Commerce Department releases latest reading on fourth-quarter gross domestic product. It came in at 2.6 per cent, faster than the last reading of 2.4 per cent, but below the consensus expectation for growth of 2.7 per cent.
(10 a.m. ET) National Association of Realtors releases pending home sales index for February. The Street expects a rise of 0.1 per cent, unchanged from January.
STOCKS TO WATCH:
Lululemon Athletica reported EPS of 75 cents, above the Street view of 72 cents and revenue beat expectations too. Guidance however came in on the weak side. Premarket trading is volatile in the stock, trading on both sides of unchanged and were last down 1.5 per cent.
Maple Leaf Foods announced major organizational changes, including a new CFO and COO.
Shares in Citibank are under pressure this morning after the Federal Reserve rejected capital plans of the bank along with Zions Bancorp. But 23 other banks had their capital plans approved. Shares in Citibank are down 6 per cent.
Baxter International said it plans to create separate, independent health-care companies, with one focusing on biopharmaceuticals and the other on medical products. Shares are surging more than 10 per cent in the premarket.
Other earnings include: BTB REIT, Sprott, IBI Group, Accenture, Commercial Metals, RE/MAX Holdings, Red hat.
ANALYST ACTIONS:
Societe Generale downgraded BlackBerry to "sell" from "hold" and maintained a price target of $6 (U.S.).
BMO Nesbitt Burns upgraded Capstone Infrastructure to "outperform" from "market perform" and hiked its price target to $5.50 (Canadian) from $4.
Canaccord Genuity cut its price target on Glentel to $15 (Canadian) from $18 and maintained a "buy" rating.
Bernstein downgraded Citibank to "market perform" from "outperform" and cut its price target to $52 (U.S.) from $61. KBW also downgraded Citigroup to "market perform" from "outperform" and cut its target to $52 from $58.
Evercore Partners upgraded New York Times to "overweight" from "equalweight" with a price target of $18.50 (U.S.).
Morgan Stanley upgraded BankUnited to "overweight" from "equalweight" with a price target of $39 (U.S.)
THIS MORNING'S TOP INVESTING LINKS:
Morningstar has issued its new stock market outlook, and it likes energy and high-quality consumer staples stocks in particular.
Why you should care about the yield curve.
Five most-need niche ETFs.
Why Janet Yellen didn't gaffe in her unexpected "six months" comment last week.
Three charts that show we're not in a tech bubble (yet).
Why it matters that value stocks are outperforming growth stocks.
Fund managers are extremely underweight emerging markets.
Why BRIC markets are suddenly performing so well.
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For instant headlines on breaking economic and corporate news in the premarket, follow Darcy Keith on Twitter at @eyeonequities.
Darcy Keith