Although yesterday's bearish start to the day ended in a minor
rally, Wall Street is taking yet another cautious stance ahead of
this morning's bell. Some potential drivers traders will be keeping
an eye on include:
-
auto sales
,
-
factory orders
, and
- the minutes from the
Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC)
latest meeting.
Among equities in focus, inventory issues prompted Cavium (CAVM )
to
slash its quarterly outlook
, while
The Pep Boys-Manny, Moe & Jack's (PBY )
fourth-quarter results didn't quite match analysts' expectations.
In pre-market action, traders appear to be taking their cues from
Europe, as all three major market indexes are looking at modest
losses.
And now, on to the numbers...
Currencies and Commodities
- The greenback is down 0.03% ahead of the bell, with the
U.S. dollar index
at $78.80.
-
Crude oil
has pulled back this morning, with the front-month contract 0.7%
lower at $104.50 per barrel.
- Elsewhere,
gold futures
are trading just below breakeven, with the malleable metal last
seen at $1,679.30 an ounce.
Cavium (CAVM - 30.57)
last night lowered its first-quarter earnings outlook by 6
cents to 7 cents per share, with revenue now expected to
decline by 6% to 7% sequentially. Back in February, CAVM had
projected an adjusted profit of 6 cents to 7 cents per share,
with revenue expected to remain "flattish" with the previous
quarter's $56.3 million. "Sales in the service provider market
were affected by continued inventory de-stocking, while sales
into the broadband and consumer business were affected by
delays in deployment of certain programs," according to a
company statement. However, sales are expected to rebound in
the second quarter. Analysts, on average, were looking for CAVM
to report a first-quarter profit of 7 cents per share on $56.5
million in revenue. CAVM is down 1.9% ahead of the bell.
Meanwhile,
The Pep Boys-Manny, Moe & Jack (PBY -
14.93)
swallowed a fourth-quarter loss of $4.4 million, or 8 cents per
share, compared to last year's profit of $8.4 million, or 16
cents per share, as a $900,000 M&A charge weighed on PBY's
bottom line. The automotive servicer saw same-store sales
increase 0.8%, while total revenue edged up 5.9% to $505.3
million. The results fell short of analysts' expectations for a
per-share profit of 12 cents on $510 million in sales.
Earnings and Economic Data
Today's docket features
auto sales data
,
factory orders
, and the minutes from the latest meeting of the
FOMC
. Comverse Technology (
CMVT
), International Speedway (
ISCA
) and Mitcham Industries (
MIND
) are expected to report earnings. Keep your browser at
SchaeffersResearch.com
for more news as it breaks.
Overseas Trading
The major Asian benchmarks ended mostly higher today, as
traders took their cues from Wall Street's positive start to
the week. An upbeat manufacturing report from the U.S. lured
some buyers from the sidelines, and a softer dollar proved to
be a bullish driver for resource issues. However, a stronger
yen kept Japanese exporters under pressure. By the close, Hong
Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.3%, South Korea's Kospi advanced
roughly 1%, and Japan's Nikkei retreated 0.6%. Markets in
Shanghai are closed for holiday.
European equities are steeped in red ink at midday, led by
weakness in banking stocks. Debt-related jitters remain at the
forefront, after Monday's downbeat euro-zone factory data was
followed up by a rise in the Spanish unemployment rate. As a
result, both Spain and Italy have seen their 10-year yields
creep higher today. At last check, London's FTSE 100 has
backpedaled 0.4%, while the German DAX is down 0.3%. The French
CAC 40 is 0.6% lower.
Market Statistics
Equity option activity on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (
CBOE
) saw 1,123,116 call contracts traded on Monday, compared to
596,686 put contracts. The resultant single-session put/call
ratio arrived at 0.53, while the 21-day moving average was
0.60.
Unusual Put and Call Activity:
For an explanation of how to use this information, check out
our
Education Center
topics on
Option Volume
and
Open Interest Configurations
.
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