03 12 US PRE OPEN

The S&P 500 Futures are almost flat after they closed mixed on Wednesday. Approximately 93% of stocks in the S&P 500 Index were trading above their 200-day moving average and 80% were trading above their 20-day moving average.

Later today, the U.S. Labor Department will post initial jobless claims in the week ending November 28 (0.77 million expected). The Institute for Supply Management will report its Services Index for November (55.8 expected). Research firm Markit will publish final readings of November Services PMI for the U.S. (57.5 expected).

European indices are under pressure. The European Commission has reported the eurozone's October retail sales at +1.5% (vs +0.7% on month expected). Research firm Markit has published final readings of November Services PMI for the eurozone at 41.7 (vs 41.3 expected), for Germany at 46.0 (vs 46.2 expected), for France at 38.8 (vs 38.0 expected) and for the U.K. at 47.6 (vs 45.8 expected).

Asian indices closed on the upside except the Chinese CSI. Australia's trade surplus totaled 7.46 billion Australian dollars in October (vs 5.80 billion Australian dollars expected).

WTI Crude Oil is drawing a consolidation The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that U.S. crude oil inventories dropped 0.68 million barrels in the week ending November 27 (vs -2.358 million barrels expected).

U.S indices closed mixed on Wednesday with the Dow Jones (+0.20%) and S&P 500 (+0.18%) closing up, while the Nasdaq (-0.05%) closed down. Energy (+3.15%), Banks (+1.71%) and Health Care Equipment & Services (+1.07%) sectors were the best performers on the day, while Materials (-1.38%), Commercial & Professional Services (-1.35%) and Real Estate (-1.12%) sectors were the worst performers.

Approximately 93% of stocks in the S&P 500 Index were trading above their 200-day moving average and 80% were trading above their 20-day moving average. The VIX Index rose 0.38pt (+1.83%) at the close.

On the U.S economic data front, the Mortgage Bankers Association's Mortgage Applications slipped 0.6% for the week ending November 27th, compared to +3.9% in the previous week. Automatic Data Processing's Employment Change showed that 307K jobs were added on month in November (440K expected), compared to a revised 404K jobs added in October. Finally, the Federal Reserve's Beige Book stated that most Districts described economic expansion as moderate since the last reporting period. Nearly all Districts reported that employment rose, but for most, at a slow pace and that a full recovery is still incomplete. In most Districts, companies disclosed that input prices rose modestly, along with selling prices of final goods. However, the rise in Covid-19 cases has brought about more school and plant closures as well as renewed fears of infection.

Gold gains ground on sliding U.S dollar. The greenback declines on vaccine and U.S stimulus optimism.

Gold rose 10.37 dollars (+0.57%) to 1841.65 dollars.

The dollar index fell 0.24pt to 90.881.


U.S. Equity Snapshot


Tesla (TSLA), the electric-vehicle maker, is gaining ground premarket as the stock was upgraded to "buy" from "neutral" at Goldman Sachs.


Source: TradingView, GAIN Capital

3M (MMM), the conglomerate, "is planning to initiate restructuring actions that will impact all business groups, functions and geographies. As a result, the company expects to take a total pre-tax charge of 250 to 300 million dollars. 3M anticipates annual pre-tax savings of 200 to 250 million dollars from these actions. The restructuring is expected to impact approximately 2,900 positions globally."

XPO Logistics (XPO), the transportation and logistics company, "announced that its board of directors has unanimously approved a plan to pursue a spin-off of 100% of its logistics segment as a separate publicly traded company. XPO intends to structure the spin-off as a transaction that is tax-free to XPO shareholders and would result in XPO shareholders owning stock in both companies."

CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD), the cyber security company, jumped postmarket as quarterly earnings beat estimates.

PVH (PVH), a designer and global marketer of branded apparel, released third quarter adjusted EPS of 1.32 dollar, exceeding estimates, down from 3.10 dollars a year ago on revenue of 2.1 billion dollars, above forecasts, down from 2.6 billion dollars a year earlier.

Dollar General (DG), an operator of a chain of discount stores, posted third quarter comparable sales up 12.2%, higher than anticipated.

Five Below (FIVE), a chain of value-oriented retail stores, reported third quarter EPS of 0.36 dollar, beating forecasts, up from 0.18 dollar a year earlier on net sales of 476.6 million dollars, above the consensus, up from 377.4 million dollars a year ago.

Synopsys (SNPS), a developer of electronic products and software, announced fourth quarter adjusted EPS of 1.58 dollar, just ahead of estimates, up from 1.15 dollar a year ago on revenue of 1.0 billion dollars, as expected, up from 851.1 million dollars a year earlier. 

Splunk (SPLK), a provider of software for machine log analysis, disclosed third quarter adjusted LPS of 0.07 dollar, missing expectations, down from an EPS of 0.58 dollar a year ago, on sales of 558.6 million dollars, worse than expected, down from 626.3 million dollars a year earlier.