The Market In 5 Minutes: Apple And Oil Weighing Down Stocks

Below 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. Apply for daily AM access by clicking here or email minutes@benzinga.com.

Macro Focus

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 51 points to 18,408.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 5.50 points to 2,172.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 11.25 points to 4,785.25.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 1.68 percent to trade at $49.15 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also fell 1.60 percent to trade at $46.86 a barrel.

• Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Rob Kaplan will speak in Austin, Texas at 9:30 a.m. ET.
• The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.
• Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Rob Kaplan will speak in Irving, Texas at 8:15 p.m. ET.

BZ News Desk

• Finisar (NASDAQ: FNSR) Reports Q1 Adj. EPS $0.38 vs $0.30 Est., Sales $341.325M vs $332.8M Est.
• Duluth Holdings (NASDAQ: DLTH) Reports Q2 EPS $0.14 vs. Est. $0.07, Rev. $65.8M vs. Est. $62.6M
• Restoration Hardware (NYSE: RH) Reports Q2 Adj. EPS $0.44 vs $0.29 Est., Sales $543.4M vs $511.4M Est.
• Zumiez (NASDAQ: ZUMZ) Reports Q2 EPS $(0.03) vs. Est. $(0.08), Rev. $178.3M vs. Est. $177.4M

Sell-Side Themes

Wedbush initiated coverage on several payment and data platform companies, mostly with Neutral ratings.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) presented its new smartwatch on Wednesday: the Apple Watch Series 2. The new device offers a suite of novel features, including the possibility to contact emergency services instantly, the integration of Nintendo’s Pokémon Go, a built-in GPS and a “Swim Proof” exterior. In addition, the company announced it would launch Nike+ running edition in October, in cooperation with Nike (NYSE: NKE)

Here's a look into what analysts think about the new device, which according to CEO Tim Cook only trails Rolex in global watches sales.

Sell-Side's Most Noteworthy Calls

Bernstein downgraded Tata Motors (NYSE: TTM) to Market Perform.
Exane BNP Paribas downgraded Signet Jewelers (NYSE: SIG) to Neutral.
Wunderlich upgraded Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) to Buy.
Goldman Sachs upgraded Navistar (NYSE: NAV) to Neutral.
Bernstein started Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG) at Outperform.
UBS started Cyberark Software (NASDAQ: CYBR) at Neutral.

Deal Talk

Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW) and DuPont (NYSE: DD) were told by the European Commission to provide missing data about their proposed merger, threatening to delay the regulator’s probe into their plans to create the world’s biggest chemical company.

Carl Icahn may not make a clean getaway with his $9.25-a-share offer for Federal-Mogul (NASDAQ: FDML). Mario Gabelli, who owns 36 percent of the non-Icahn slice of the auto-parts maker, appears to be angling for $13 a share.

“We don’t view the long-term profit outlook for that business as fully reflected at $9.25 per share,” Gabelli company analyst Brian Sponheimer said in a report. “I do think the shares are fundamentally undervalued,” he told The New York Post.

Shares of Twitter (NASDAQ: TWTR) fell sharply Thursday, as CNBC reported that Twitter's Board meeting won't include discussion about a possible sale. There are said to be no bids on the table. Twitter closed at $18.70 on Thursday, down 5.8 percent.

In The News

North Korea has hit the button on its fifth and potentially most powerful nuclear test, claiming to have successfully tested a nuclear warhead. State media said the warhead could be mounted on ballistic rockets and would enable North Korea to produce "a variety of smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear warheads of higher strike power." South Korea, Japan and China condemned the test, saying it was a clear violation of the United Nations Security Council resolution.

U.S. aluminum executives claim Liu Zhongtian, founder of Chinese metals conglomerate China Zhongwang, used a factory in Mexico to game the global trade system. The stockpile, worth some $2 billion and representing roughly 6 percent of the world’s total inventory—enough to churn out 2.2 million Ford F-150s or 77 billion beer cans—quickly became an obsession for the U.S. aluminum industry.

U.S. regulators said Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) would have to pay $190 million to settle claims of its employees having created deposit and credit card accounts without the approval of its customers. Apparently, the employees used this tactic to reach sales goals and gain monetary bonuses and rewards.

According to a statement from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the bank opened more than 2 million accounts without consent – more than 1.5 million deposit accounts and 565,443 credit card accounts. Wells Fargo announced it would fire 5,300 employees.

Blogosphere

"It’s easy to look back and see how wrong a forecast was, but to consistently predict which predictions will look foolish can be an expensive way to invest."

Trending

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#MoneyIsntImportantBut it sure makes me happy

Guess This Chart

• This company is currently in the middle of a much-maligned M&A deal.
• This stock was under $30 as recently as mid-2013.
• Sympathy plays include Ford (NYSE: F) and General Motors (NYSE: GM).