S&P 500 futures slide on earnings, data as treasuries advance
By Bloomberg
U.S. equity-index futures slid with European stocks, extending earlier losses, as results by companies from Caterpillar Inc. to Microsoft Corp. disappointed investors and durable-goods orders declined. Treasuries climbed and the dollar weakened while U.S. natural gas jumped as a snowstorm blanketed the country’s northeast.
Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures slipped 1.3 percent at 8:37 a.m. in New York. Dow Jones Industrial Average contracts slumped 1.4 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index lost 1.2 percent, declining from a seven-year high. The euro climbed 0.6 percent to $1.1310. The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell five basis points to 1.77 percent, while the rate on Greek debt jumped 33 basis points to 9.42 percent and shares headed for the biggest two-day drop in three weeks. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.4 percent. Russian bonds declined and credit risk rose after S&P cut the country’s rating to junk. U.S. natural gas advanced 2.1 percent, paring earlier gains.
Caterpillar, the world’s largest manufacturer of mining and construction equipment, reported profit that missed estimates, while Microsoft’s software-license sales to businesses trailed estimates and Siemens posted a decline in first-quarter profit. Apple Inc. is set to release earnings. European finance ministers signaled willingness to work with Greek Prime Minister-elect Alexis Tsipras as long as he drops demands for a debt writedown.
“This earnings season comes long enough after the currency movements that investors should start to see clues coming up, certainly in terms of the forward guidance,” said Michael Ingram, a market strategist at BGC Brokers LP in London. “There have been notable disappointments so far. The question is how much longer can U.S. corporates can give us reasons to pay a premium for this market.”
Orders for U.S. durable goods -- items meant to last at least three years -- decreased 3.4 percent in December after falling 2.1 percent the prior month, Commerce Department data showed. The median forecast of 80 economists surveyed by Bloomberg estimated bookings would rise 0.3 percen.
U.S. Earnings
Caterpillar dropped 5.8 percent and Microsoft lost 5 percent. Procter & Gamble Co. declined 2.6 percent. The world’s largest consumer-products maker said second-quarter profit fell 31 percent as the stronger dollar ate away at sales and earnings from its international units.
United Technologies Corp. slid 2.3 percent after a surging U.S. dollar against the euro and other currencies forced a cut in the company’s annual profit forecast.
About 74 percent of the companies in the S&P 500 that have posted earnings this season have beaten analyst estimates, while 53 percent have topped sales projections, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
The Stoxx 600 halted an eight-day winning streak, its longest since April. Greece’s benchmark index slid 3.7 percent, extending declines since Sunday’s elections to 6.9 percent.
Siemens, Europe’s biggest engineering company, retreated 2.9 percent. Royal Philips NV fell 5.9 percent after saying it is behind on its 2016 financial targets.
EasyJet Revenue
EasyJet Plc climbed 2.1 percent after posting an increase in first-quarter revenue, and Novartis AG rose 1.4 percent after posting fourth-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates. The world’s biggest drugmaker by sales also said revenue growth will resume this year, with earnings gains exceeding sales increases.
The yield on five-year Russian government debt rose 14 basis points to 15.39 percent, and the cost of protecting against default increase 12 basis points to 603, near the highest level since 2009, CMA prices show.
The dollar-denominated RTS slipped 1.1 percent, while the Micex gained 1.2 percent. The ruble advanced 1.5 percent against the dollar after losing 6.6 percent yesterday.
S&P, which last downgraded Russia in April, cut the sovereign one step to BB+, the same level as countries including Bulgaria and Indonesia. The ratings firm said the outlook is “negative.”
Selling Debt
Russia said it will proceed with its second bond auction this year, offering 5 billion rubles ($74 million) of floating- rate notes maturing in 2017 tomorrow.
The European Union will probably toughen sanctions linked to the conflict in Ukraine, adding more individuals to a list of those facing visa bans and asset freezes rather than impose economic sanctions, Latvian President Andris Berzins, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency, said Monday in a Bloomberg interview. The step may take place at a foreign ministers meeting set for Jan. 29 in Brussels, he said.
Chinese stocks fell for this first time in six days in Shanghai after industrial profits declined the most in at least three years last month. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.9 percent after closing at a more than five-year high on Monday. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland companies listed in Hong Kong dropped 1.6 percent.
China Economy
Industrial profits declined 8 percent from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said. That’s the biggest drop since at least October 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
India’s S&P BSE Sensex advanced 0.4 percent to a record high as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama reached an agreement that could spur nuclear energy projects.
U.S. natural gas futures climbed to $2.908 per million British thermal units. The storm won’t drop as much snow as forecasters anticipated, sparing residents and clean-up crews the worst of the potentially life-threatening blizzard that some predicted.
Copper slid 0.8 percent and nickel lost 0.3 percent. Gold traded near the lowest level in a week before Federal Reserve policy makers begin a two-day meeting.
Greek securities led a decline in the bonds of the euro area’s higher-yielding nations. The rate on Greece’s three-year notes jumped 221 basis points, or 2.21 percentage points, to 14.25 percent. Ten-year yields on Italian debt added four basis points to 1.54 percent.
Credit Risk
The Markit iTraxx Europe Index of credit-default swaps on investment-grade companies advanced one basis point to 53 basis points, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The average yield on investment-grade bonds in euros increased from a record low, adding two basis points to 1.02 percent, Bank of America Merrill Lynch index data show.
The euro added 0.5 percent to 74.86 British pence after data showed U.K. gross domestic product expanded 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter, falling short of analyst estimates for a 0.6 percent increase.
Switzerland’s currency weakened against most of its 16 main counterparts after a Swiss National Bank official said it remained ready to intervene in markets. The franc slid 0.3 percent to 1.0179 per euro.
The rand tumbled after electricity utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. doubled the scale of rolling blackouts due to “unforeseen technical problems.” It declined 0.9 percent to 11.5698 per dollar.
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