The Market In 5 Minutes: Jobless Claims Fall, Tech Stocks, Harley Upgrade And More

IN THE NEWS

Perhaps not surprisingly, data indicate the sector analysts' are most bullish on is technology. Over the past year, the Technology Select Sector SPDR XLK and the tech-heavy PowerShares QQQ QQQ are up 24 percent and 22.6 percent, respectively, while the S&P 500 is higher by 13.7 percent: Link

Does Apple Inc. AAPL have an iPhone problem?: Link

The percentage of individuals receiving tax audits declined for the sixth consecutive year in 2017 to reach the lowest level since 2002, further showing the effect of budget cuts at the Internal Revenue Service: Link $

Facebook Inc. FB is curbing the information that it exchanges with companies that collect and sell consumer data for advertisers, as the social-media giant tries to calm an uproar over its handling of personal information: Link $

China’s central bank will launch a crackdown on all types of virtual currencies this year, a vice governor of the central bank said on Thursday: Link

Is there a better way to reduce the U.S. trade deficit than raising duties on imports?: Link

CVS Health CVS is facing a federal lawsuit claiming the company unintentionally revealed the HIV status of up to 6,000 Ohio residents though a prescription mailing: Link

ECONOMIC DATA

• Initial Jobless Claims for Mar 23 215K vs 230K Est; Prior 229K. Continuing Claims for Mar 16 1.87M vs 1.88M Est; Prior Revised from 1.83M to 1.84M
• Personal Spending (MoM) for Feb 0.20% vs 0.20% Est; Prior 0.20%. Personal Income (MoM) for Feb 0.40% vs 0.40% Est; Prior 0.40%
• The Chicago PMI for March is schedule for release at 9:45 a.m. ET.
• The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for March will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.
• The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.
• The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the recent week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.
• Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker is set to speak in New York City at 1:00 p.m. ET.
• Data on money supply for the latest week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.

ANALYST RATINGS

• DA Davidson upgraded Realty Income O from Neutral to Buy
• Longbow upgraded Harley-Davidson HOG from Underperform to Neutral
• Stifel downgraded SecureWorks SCWX from Buy to Hold
• Jefferies downgraded RSP Permian RSPP from Buy to Hold

This is a tool used by the Benzinga News Desk each trading day — it's a look at everything happening in the market, in five minutes. To get the full version of this note every morning, click here.