Luke KawaThe Globe and Mail
The Before the Bell report is updated throughout the premarket to reflect the latest news developments and market moves. Check back later for updates.
U.S. equity futures are lower ahead of a busy day of earnings and speeches from monetary policymakers.
This afternoon, four speakers from the U.S. Federal Reserve, consisting of two voting members (Dennis Lockhart and Stanley Fischer) and two non-voting members (Loretta Mester and Eric Rosengren) will deliver speeches.
Though the era of forward guidance has officially ended at the central bank, Federal Reserve regional presidents have not been shy about offering their opinions on which month (or year) the central bank should look to lift rates from zero. As such, Mr. Lockhart's words will be closely parsed, while Mr. Fischer seems more likely to adopt a similar data-dependent, wait-and-see approach advocated by Fed Chair Janet Yellen.
West Texas Intermediate prices are trading to the downside this morning after news that production from the OPEC cartel rose by 811,800 barrels per day in March, with Saudi Arabia contributing the most to this pick-up in output.
The Canadian dollar has continued to extend Wednesday's huge gains following a more hawkish than anticipated Bank of Canada statement and economic outlook. S&P/TSX 60 futures, however, are modestly negative ahead of the open.
Chinese and Hong Kong stocks rose after a report from the Wall Street Journal suggested that policymakers are considering easing access to stocks in the Hang Seng index for mainland investors.
European bourses are trading lower. The real action, however, is in fixed income. The Greek three-year bond yield is spiking amid heightened concerns about a possible exit from the euro zone, while German nine-year bonds have dipped into negative-yielding territory.
Here's a look at the latest market numbers and other highlights ahead of the trading day.
Futures:
S&P 500 -0.35 per cent; Dow -0.26 per cent; Nasdaq -0.3 per cent
Equities:
Hong Kong's Hang Seng +0.44 per cent
Shanghai composite index +2.71 per cent
Japan's Nikkei +0.08 per cent
London's FTSE 100 -0.32 per cent
Germany's DAX -1.5 per cent
France's CAC 40 -0.52 per cent
Stoxx 600 -0.67 per cent
Commodities:
WTI crude oil (Nymex May) -1.44 per cent at $55.58 (U.S.) a barrel
Natural gas (Nymex May) -0.8 per cent at $2.589 (U.S.)
Gold (Comex Jun) +0.47 per cent at $1,207.00 (U.S.) an ounce
Copper (Comex May) +1.94 per cent at $2.762 (U.S.) a pound
Currencies:
Canadian dollar at 81.43 (U.S.), up 0.0006
U.S. dollar index down 0.349 at 97.97
Bonds:
U.S. 10-year Treasury yield 1.8715 per cent, down 0.0165
ECONOMIC INDICATORS:
U.S. initial jobless claims for week of April. 11 came in at 294,000, worse than the estimate of 280,000.
U.S. housing starts for March came in at 926,000, lower than the consensus estimate for 1.04-million.
(10 a.m.) Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey.
Also: G-20 finance ministers and central bankers meet in Washington
STOCKS TO WATCH:
SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. is leading a consortium that has won a contract to build the replacement for the Champlain Bridge in Montreal.
Goldman Sachs produced stellar results for the first three months of the year. The firm posted adjusted earnings per share of $6.00, well ahead of the consensus estimate of $4.26, while revenues also beat the Street's call. Its fixed income, currency, and commodities (or FICC) division was a notable bright spot. Goldman also hiked its quarterly dividend to $0.65 from $0.60.
Citigroup Inc. also posted results that bettered analysts' estimates on profits, driven by strong cost controls, while sales were in-line with the consensus call.
Shares of Netflix Inc. surged in the after-hours session on Wednesday after beating analysts' expectations on earnings and subscriber growth above its posted guidance. A number of analysts have upgraded and hiked their price targets on the stock following these results.
Shares of UnitedHealth Group Inc. are on the rise in the pre-market after the firm released quarterly results that exceeded analysts' expectations on the bottom line and hiked its outlook for full-year 2015 earnings.
Earnings include: Advanced Micro Devices Inc.; American Express Company; Blackstone Grp L.P.; CitiGrp Inc.; First Horizon Natl Corp.; Goldman Sachs Group Inc.; Mattel Inc.; Philip Morris Intl Inc.; Sherwin-Williams Co; Syntel Inc.; Washington Federal Inc.
ANALYST ACTIONS:
Neftlix Inc. was upgraded to "outperform" from "market perform" at FBR Capital, which hiked its price target to $900 (U.S.) from $400. Several other analysts also boosted their price targets on the stock.
Panera Bread Co.. was upgraded to "market perform" from "underperform" by Raymond James.
Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. was downgraded to "hold" from "speculative buy" at TD Securities.
Thomson Reuters Corp. was lowered to "sector perform" from "outperform" at RBC.
Etsy Inc. was initiated with a "buy" rating at Brean Capital.