First Look
Equity futures in the U.S. are lower Tuesday after a strong up day to start the week. The big story this morning is British Prime Minister Theresa May calling for snap elections to be held in early June. This sent the Pound higher against the dollar. Markets in Europe are lower this morning as they reopen after the Easter holidays and digest a slew of geopolitical developments, including the British election, the nuclear situation in North Korea, and the looming French election where two candidates who oppose the EU are still in contention. The Nasdaq is down -0.18%, the S&P 500 is down -0.23%, the Dow Jones is down -0.31%.
Today's Sentiment
NeutralQuote of the Day
Do not let circumstances control you. You change your circumstances.
Jackie Chan
Daily Action Trade
Stocks on the Move
Arconic Inc (ARNC), Bank of New York Mellon Corp (BK) and Kroger Co (KR) are moving higher this morning, while Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX), Chesapeake Energy Corporation (CHK) and Lowe's Companies, Inc. (LOW) are headed lower. Fastenal Company (FAST), McDonald's Corporation (MCD) and AFLAC Incorporated (AFL) were upgraded by analysts this morning, while DISH Network Corp (DISH), Cummins Inc. (CMI) and PACCAR Inc (PCAR) were downgraded.
International Markets
Stocks in Asia are down. The Hang Seng is down -1.39%, the Australia ASX All Ordinaries is down -0.97%, the Shanghai SE Composite Index is down -0.79% the Mumbai Sensex is down -0.32% and the Nikkei 225 is up 0.35%.Stocks in Europe are down. The FTSE 100 is down -1.78%, the CAC 40 is down -1.2%, the Euronext 100 is down -1.04% and the DAX is down -0.57%.
Futures & Currencies
Energy futures are down today. The price for West Texas Intermediate crude oil is down -0.32 at 52.33 per barrel. Brent crude is down -0.42 at 54.94 per barrel. Natural Gas is down -0.03 at 3.14. Precious metals are mixed this morning. Gold is down -5 at 1286.9 per ounce. Platinum is up 0.83 at 984.85 while silver is down -0.14 at 18.38. The dollar is down compared to the major currencies today. The greenback is down against the euro, down against the Yen and down against the Pound.
Put/Call Ratio
Yesterday, 664,972 call contracts traded on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) compared to 420,194 put contracts. The single-session put/call was 0.63 while the 20-day moving average is now at 0.67.
Today's Economic Calendar
| No. | What's Happening? | Period | Release Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Housing Starts | Mar | 08:30 |
| 2 | Building Permits | Mar | 08:30 |
| 3 | Industrial Production | Mar | 09:15 |
| 4 | Capacity Utilization | Mar | 09:15 |
