OVERNIGHT MARKETS AND NEWS
June E-mini S&Ps (ESM15 +0.10%) this morning are up +0.12% ahead of U.S. producer prices for Feb and a preliminary reading of U.S. consumer confidence for March. European stocks ae down -0.12 as energy producers fall after the price of crude oil slipped to a 6-week low. Asian stocks closed mixed: Japan +1.39%, Hong Kong +0.11%, China +0.69%, Taiwan -0.17%, Australia -0.61%, Singapore -0.32%, South Korea +0.76%, India -1.48%. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Index rallied up to a 14-3/4 year high and China’s Shanghai Stock Index rose to a 6-week high on receding Fed rate hike prospects after U.S. Feb retail sales unexpectedly declined for a third month. Commodity prices are mixed. Apr crude oil (CLJ15 -1.49%) is down -0.55%at a 6-week low on a supply glut in the U.S. after Wednesday’s EIA data showed U.S. crude stockpiles at 448.9 million bbl, the most since EIA data started in 1982. Apr gasoline (RBJ15 -0.62%) is down -0.57% at a 3-week low. The IEA said today that the record oil surplus in the U.S. may soon strain the nation’s storage capacity and further pressure oil prices. The IEA said that the oil-storage hub in Cushing, OK, the largest in the U.S., is now 70% full. Apr gold (GCJ15 +0.31%) is up +0.27%. May copper (HGK15 -0.24%) is down -0.23% as it retreated from a 1-week high on signs of ample global supplies after weekly Shanghai copper inventories rose +17,276 MT to 241,616 MT, a 1-3/4 year high, and LME copper inventories rose +2,825 MT to 333,575 MT, a 13-1/2 month high. Agriculture prices are mixed. The dollar index (DXY00 +0.14%) is up +0.11%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.47%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.13%. GBP/USD is down -0.38% at a 4-1/2 year low after UK Jan construction output unexpectedly fell at the fastest pace in 14 months. Jun T-note prices (ZNM15 -0.21%) are down -7.5 ticks.
Japan Jan industrial production was revised lower to +3.7% m/m and -2.8% y/y from the originally reported +4.0% m/m and -2.6% y/y. Jan capacity utilization rose +3.6% m/m and matched September’s increase as the largest in a year.
