The Before the Bell report is constantly updated to reflect the latest news developments and market moves in the premarket. Check back later for updates.
U.S. and Canadian stock futures are up sharply this morning and overseas markets are trading positively, after China's latest reading on gross domestic product surprised modestly to the upside.
Economic growth in the first quarter rose 7.4 per cent, ahead of analyst expectations of 7.3 per cent. While still lower than the 7.7 per cent growth seen in the fourth quarter of 2013, the data suggested the country remains on track to achieve a boost in GDP of 7.5 per cent this year.
But other economic reports out of China overnight were a little less friendly: retail sales in March grew at an annual rate of 12.2 per cent and industrial output gained 8.8 per cent, and fixed asset investment for the first quarter rose 17.6 per cent. All those readings were a little weaker than expected.
Chinese equities closed a little higher after the fresh economic readings. Gains in Asia among major markets were actually led by Japan, where the Nikkei rallied 3 per cent on comments from the government that it may rebalance its massive pension fund. Such an action could involve buying foreign assets, which would likely pressure the yen, and could involve increasing domestic equity holdings.
U.S. stock futures are up about half a percentage point this morning after Tuesday's choppy session, and trading should remain volatile today in North America as several major corporate earnings reports are released. For so this earnings season, 12.2 per cent of the S&P 500's market cap have reported results, many of which have a February year-end. Earnings have beaten Street views overall by 1.9 per cent, while revenues have come in-line with expectations, according to RBC. We detail some of the key earnings reports below in our Stocks to Watch section.
Meanwhile, watch for more Fed speak today. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen speaks shortly after noon ET before the Economic Club of New York and is expected to share some fresh views on monetary policy and the economy. She'll probably stress that the central bank is in no rush whatsoever to hike interest rates.
Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhard and Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher also are scheduled to speak today.
Now, here's a closer look at what's going on this morning and what's to come.
MARKETS:
Equities:
Futures: S&P 500 +0.51 per cent; Dow +0.46 per cent; Nasdaq +0.59 per cent; S&P Toronto +0.32 per cent
Hong Kong's Hang Seng +0.11 per cent
Shanghai composite index +0.16 per cent
Japan's Nikkei +3.01 per cent
London's FTSE 100 +0.37 per cent
Germany's DAX +0.86 per cent
France's CAC 40 +0.89 per cent
Commodities:
WTI crude oil (Nymex Jun) +0.90 per cent at $103.93 (U.S.) a barrel
Gold (Comex Jun) +0.25 per cent at $1,303.70 (U.S.) an ounce
Copper (Comex Jun) +0.54 per cent at $3.00 (U.S.) a pound
Currencies:
Canadian dollar at 91.03 (U.S.), down 0.0005
U.S. dollar index down 0.08 at 79.71
Bonds:
U.S. 10-year Treasury yield 2.65 per cent, up 0.02
ECONOMIC INDICATORS:
U.S. March housing starts rose to an annualized rate of 946,000 from a revised 920,000 in February, but below expectations of 970,000.
U.S. industrial production for March rose 0.7 per cent from February, better than the 0.5 per cent gain expected and February's gain of 0.6 per cent.
(10 a.m. ET) Bank of Canada policy announcement and monetary policy report. A press conference follows at 1115 a.m. (ET).
STOCKS TO WATCH:
Canadian grocer Metro reported fiscal second quarter EPS of $1.07 (Canadian), beating the Street expectation of $1.02, and it raised its quarterly dividend by 20 per cent.
Bank of America shares are down 1 per cent in premarket trading after the company said it swung to a first-quarter loss. Stripping out one-time charges, it reported EPS of 14 cents, beating the Street view of 5 cents. A number of one-time charges obscured just how good of a beat it was.
Yahoo shares are up 7 per cent in the premarket after the company beat first-quarter EPS estimates by a penny and reported strong results from Chinese e-commerce site Alibaba, in which it holds a stake.
Other earnings today include: Metro, Abbott Laboratories, American Express, Capital One, U.S. Bancorp, First Republic Bank, Google, IBM, Kinder Morgan, Kansas City Southern, Noble, SanDisk, St. Jude Medical, Steel Dynamics, B&G Foods, Universal Forest Products.
Johnson Controls has agreed to buy Canada Pension Plan Investment's Air Distribution Technologies business for $1.6-billion.
SodaStream International shares are up 9 per cent in the premarket after an Israeli newspaper reported the company may sell a stake to a large, unnamed drinks company.
ANALYST ACTIONS:
Canaccord Genuity upgraded Golden Star Resources to "buy" from "hold," keeps $1 (Canadian) price target.
Canaccord Genuity upgraded New Gold to "buy" from "hold," cuts target to $7.50 (Canadian) from $8.
B. Riley downgraded Intel to "neutral" from "buy" but raised its price target to $29 (U.S.) from $28.50.
Nomura Securities downgraded Motorola Solutions to "neutral" from "buy" and cut its price target to $62 (U.S.) from $72.
Sterne Agee upgraded Family Dollar Stores to "neutral" from "underperform" and raised its price target to $55 (U.S.) from $50.
Wells Fargo upgraded Time Warner Cable to "outperform" from "market perform" and raised the low end of its valuation range to $140 from $132.50, with the end end remaining at $160.
Citibank upgraded Yelp to "buy" from "neutral" with a price target of $76 (U.S.).
Needham & Co. upgraded Cree to "buy" from "hold" with a price target of $64 (U.S.).
Sterne Agee upgraded Twitter to "neutral" from "underperform" with an unchanged price target of $43 (U.S.).
Evercore Partners raised its price target on Yahoo to $42 (U.S.) from $39 and maintained an "equal weight" rating. Wells Fargo upgraded the stock to "outperform" from "market perform" with a price target of $45-47. Susquehanna raised its price target to $42 from $39 but kept a "neutral" rating.
Imperial Capital upgraded Goodrich Petroleum to "outperform" from "in-line" and raised its price target to $33 (U.S.) from $13.
Jefferies upgraded United Natural Foods to "buy" from "hold" and raised its price target to $78 (U.S.) from $77.
THIS MORNING'S TOP INVESTING LINKS:
A list of Nasdaq stocks now in bear-market territory.
We're seeing the weakest recovery for corporate earnings in more than half a century.
A few reforms could help stop the bleeding of most investors.
The marijuana index is now down nearly 90 per cent from its February high.
The Yangtze River Delta has become the epicentre for China credit risk.
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For instant headlines on breaking economic and corporate news in the premarket, follow Darcy Keith on Twitter at @eyeonequities.
Darcy Keith