After reaching five-year highs, natural gas retreated more than 10 percent Monday while the major U.S. markets were up sharply.
Monday, the Dow gained about 104 points to close at 16,207.14. The S&P was up 0.6 percent, or about 11 points to close at 1,847.61, and the NASDAQ was down 0.7 percent to 4,292.97.
This morning, U.S. markets are indicated lower. The Dow is 15 points lower, the S&P is two points lower and the NASDAQ is indicated to lose about two points at the open.
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- A virus called “Pony” designed to steal bitcoins and other virtual currencies, is said to affect thousands of computers. In addition, the price of bitcoin is down 20 percent this morning as it appears that Mt. Gox, one of Bitcoin’s largest exchanges, might be bankrupt.
- Carl Icahn is again calling on eBay EBAY to spin off its PayPal unit. The billionaire activist investor also said that the company’s board has conflicts of interest.
Asian Markets
Asian shares were mixed in Tuesday trading. The Nikkei was up about 1.4 percent to close at 15,051.60 and the Hang Seng was down about 0.3 percent to close at 22,317.20.
The Shanghai Composite closed two percent lower at 2,034.22 and the Kospi was 0.8 percent higher closing at 1964.86.
European Markets
Europe is trending lower this morning. The FTSE is 0.5 percent lower at 6,828.79 and the DAX is down 0.3 percent at 9,677.99. Finally, the CAC is flat at 4,402.52
After plunging more than 10 percent Monday, natural gas continues its slide—down 1.7 percent at $5.35. Other commodities are mixed. WTI is down 0.6 percent at $102.22 while Brent is down 0.3 percent at $110.34.
Gold is down 0.2 percent at $1,335.20 and silver is lower by about one percent at $21.84. Copper is 0.6 percent lower at $3.24.
The euro is flat against the dollar at 1.376 and the dollar is about 0.1 percent lower against the yen at 102.34
The pound is 0.1 percent higher against the dollar at 1.668 and the Aussie dollar is at 0.901 against the dollar—down 0.2 percent.
Hewlett-Packard HPQ is down 2.5 percent this morning while Transocean RIG is down nearly one percent. Raytheon RTN is up 1.8 percent while PulteGroup PHM is up about 0.5 percent.
Earnings reports from Monday:
- HSBC Holdings HSBC reported that its 2013 pretax profit totaled $22.56 billion, short of the consensus estimate of $24.6 billion.
- Frontier Communications FTR reported fourth quarter EPS of $0.07, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06. Revenue of $1.18 billion was in-line with the consensus estimate.
The following companies will report earnings today:
- Domino's Pizza DPZ is estimated to report its Q4 earnings at $0.76 per share on revenue of $563.39 million.
- Macy's M is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $2.17 per share on revenue of $9.27 billion.
- The Home Depot HD is expected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.71 per share on revenue of $17.91 billion.
- Toll Brothers TOL is estimated to report its Q1 earnings at $0.18 per share.
- Office Depot ODP is expected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.03 per share on revenue of $4.09 billion.
To read today’s full earnings calendar, click here.
The Redbook will reach the market at 8:55 AM ET. The Case-Shiller Report will be released at 9:00 AM PT and Consumer Confidence at 10:00 AM.
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