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.
North American stock futures are edging up as traders absorb a flurry of U.S. economic reports today, more Canadian and U.S. corporate earnings, and the start of a two-day Federal Reserve policy meeting.
The Fed would often garner the most attention out of those three, but market players are quite confident this time around that Chairman Ben Bernanke won't offer much to change underlying investor sentiment when he issues his latest monetary policy decision Wednesday afternoon.
The Fed is widely expected to maintain the Fed's $85-billion-a-month in bond buying purchases while keeping interest rates at ultra-low levels. There's been little fresh data since the Fed announced in September it would hold off its tapering of bond purchases for now, and economic growth likely went into reverse because of the recent partial U.S. government shutdown. There is also no Fed press conference scheduled for Wednesday, making any critical moves on monetary policy less likely, especially given Mr. Bernanke is coming to the end of his tenure. The Fed will undoubtedly signal it will keep its options open for the future, however.
Apple is a major focus this morning after the tech giant reported better-than-expected earnings late Monday, but provided guidance on margins that was a little disappointing.
We detail more on Apple and other corporate developments, and what else is going on this morning, below.
MARKETS:
Equities:
Futures: S&P 500 +0.09 per cent; Dow +0.11 per cent; Nasdaq +0.10 per cent; S&P Toronto +0.04 per cent
Hong Kong's Hang Seng +0.18 per cent
Shanghai composite index -0.23 per cent
Japan's Nikkei -0.49 per cent
London's FTSE 100 +0.45 per cent
Germany's DAX +0.15 per cent
France's CAC 40 +0.27 per cent
Commodities:
WTI crude oil (Nymex Dec) -0.40 per cent at $98.28 (U.S.) a barrel
Gold (Comex Dec) -0.34 per cent at $1,347.60 (U.S.) an ounce
Copper (Comex Dec) +0.43 per cent at $3.28 (U.S.) a pound
Currencies:
Canadian dollar at 95.84 (U.S.), up 0.0013 from Monday's North American close.
U.S. dollar index up 0.19 at 79.44
Bonds:
U.S. 10-year Treasury yield 2.52 per cent, down 0.006
ECONOMIC INDICATORS TO WATCH:
Canadian industrial prices fell 0.3 per cent in September from August. Raw materials prices fell 1.5 per cent.
U.S. retail sales for September fell 0.1 per cent; the Street was expecting unchanged. Excluding autos, retail sales rose 0.4 per cent, close to expectations.
U.S. September producer prices fell 0.1 per cent in September, lower than the 0.2 per cent rise expected by economists. The prices rose 0.3 per cent in August from July.
U.S. home prices rose 1.3 per cent in August, the smallest monthly gain since March, with 16 of 20 cities tracked by a gauge from S&P/Case-Shiller saw slower growth. After seasonal adjustments, home prices in August rose 0.9 per cent. On a year-over-year basis, home prices grew 12.8 per cent during the month.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. releases business inventories for August, forecast to rise 0.3 per cent.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. Conference Board releases consumer confidence figures for October. The Street expects the index to slide to 75.0 from 79.7 in September.
STOCKS TO WATCH:
Apple shares are up 1.3 per cent in the premarket. The company reported earnings of $8.26 a share versus the Street consensus of $7.92. Guidance for margins for the current quarter came in a little lighter than expected, contributing to a slide of as much as 3 per cent in Monday's post market before shares erased those losses as company executives filled in details during the analyst conference call.
Sears Canada said it will abandon its flagship store at the Toronto Eaton Centre along with four other outlets in a leaseback deal that will generate $400-million for the struggling retailer but raises questions about the fate of its revival efforts. Sears Canada shares on Monday closed at $13.54 on the TSX, just a little below a 52-week high of $13.99.
In the U.S., parent Sears Holdings said it is considering separating its Lands' End and Sears Auto Center businesses from the rest of the company. The retailer also plans to continue closing some of its unprofitable stores as it moves ahead on its turnaround efforts. Shares are up 0.3 per cent in the premarket.
Pfizer reported adjusted third-quarter earnings per share of 58 cents, a little better than the Street consensus of 56 cents. Shares are up 0.2 per cent in the premarket.
Archer-Daniels-Midland reported third-quarter adjusted EPS of 46 cents vs. the 47 cents Street estimate. Shares are down 1.6 per cent in the premarket.
New Gold reported adjusted third-quarter earnings per share of 4 cents vs. the 5 cents estimate.
Nokia said its third-quarter net loss narrowed to 91 million euros from 959 million euros a year earlier. Analysts had projected a loss of 171.5 million. Sales were weaker than expected but the company gave an upbeat forecast for its telecom equipment unit Nokia Solutions and Networks. Nokia ADS shares in New York are up 6 per cent in the premarket.
BP Plc raised its dividend after third-quarter earnings fell less than expected. Its ADS shares in New York are up 4 per cent in the premarket.
Other earnings today include: Ainsworth Lumber, Alacer Gold, Ballard Power, Genworth MI, 1-800-Flowers, Aetna, Cirrus, Dreamworks, Enbridge, JetBlue, and LinkedIn.
ANALYST ACTIONS:
RW Baird upgraded Apple to "outperform" from "neutral" and raised its price target to $620 (U.S.) from $525. Goldman Sachs raised its price target to $620 from $560 and reiterated a "buy" rating while BMO Nesbitt Burns raised its target to $600 from $508 and maintained a "buy" rating. Lazard Capital raised its price target to $610 from $570 and maintained a "buy" rating. RBC Dominion Securities raised its price target to $590 from $550 and maintained an "outperform" rating.
Desjardins downgraded Bell Aliant to "hold" from "buy" and maintained a $27.50 (Canadian) price target. It mostly cited recent price appreciation for the move.
Wells Fargo downgraded Michael Kors to "market perform" from "outperform" and kept its price target at a range of $75-79.
Sanford Bernstein upgraded Yahoo to "outperform" from "market perform" with a price target of $40 (U.S.).
THIS MORNING'S TOP INVESTING READS ON THE WEB:
Five signs the market bulls are wrong.
Wharton School professor Jeremy Siegel thinks the Dow could rise 10 per cent next year.
No one seems all that interested in the Twitter IPO, according to what readers are clicking on at news websites. But hedge fund manager Doug Kass certainly is. He says he's now "manifestly bullish" on the microblogging platform.
Agricultural commodities like corn are extremely oversold.
Seven market lessons I re-learned in 2013.
Why Coca-Cola's stock is suffering.
The 10 most popular U.S.-listed ETFs so far this year. And, here's the 10 least popular ETFs.
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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