Morning Call For February 5, 2016

OVERNIGHT MARKETS AND NEWS

March E-mini S&Ps (ESH16 +0.07%) are up +0.16% and European stocks are up +0.32% ahead of the monthly U.S. payrolls report. Equity prices have been tracking crude oil prices for direction and Mar WTI crude (CLH16 +1.23%) is up +1.29%. Gains in European stocks were limited after German Dec factory orders declined more than expected. Asian stocks settled mixed: Japan -1.32%, Hong Kong +0.55%, China -0.63%, Taiwan closed for holiday, Australia -0.08%, Singapore +2.53%, South Korea +0.17%, India +1.14%. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Index fell to a 2-week low as bank stocks fell after Citigroup cut its ratings on Japan’s three biggest lenders by assets. Also, exporters moved lower after the yen slid to a 2-week low against the dollar and undercut the earnings prospects of Japanese exporters.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.17%) is up +0.19%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.12%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.06%.

Mar T-note prices (ZNH16 +0.17%) are up +5 ticks.

German Dec factory orders fell -0.7% m/m and -2.7% y/y, weaker than expectations of -0.5% m/m and -1.4% y/y, with the -2.7% y/y drop the biggest annual decline in 3-1/4 years.

U.S. STOCK PREVIEW

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) Jan non-farm payrolls (expected +190,000, Dec +292,000) and Jan unemployment rate (expected unch at 5.0%, Dec unch at 5.0%), (2) Dec trade balance (expected -$43.20 billion, Nov -$42.37 billion), and (3) Dec consumer credit (expected +$16.0 billion, Nov +$13.951 billion).

There are 7 of the S&P 500 companies that report earnings today: Tyson Foods (consensus $0.89), Weyerhaeuser (0.24), Estee Lauder (1.11), AMETEK (0.63), CME Group (0.90), Aon (2.09), Moody’s (1.05).

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

Equity conferences today include: none.

OVERNIGHT U.S. STOCK MOVERS

Symantec (SYMC -0.52%) jumped over 9% in pre-market trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 26 cents, better than consensus of 24 cents, and said it received a $500 million investment from Silver Lake Management LLC.