#PreMarket Primer: Friday, February 14: A Turnaround

After what set up to be a rough day in the market, major indices turned around and finished the day higher yesterday.

Thursday, the Dow was up 63.65 points to finish the day at 16,027.59. The S&P was up 0.6 percent, or about 10 points, to 1,829.83 and the NASDAQ was up about one percent to close at 4,240.67.

This morning, U.S. markets are moving lower in premarket trading. The Dow is indicated down about 22 points while the S&P is three points lower. The NASDAQ is trending down about three points.

Top Stories

• Jos. A Bank JOS is purchasing Eddie Bauer for $825 million.
• The harsh winter, including higher utility bills than normal, may shave 0.3 points from GDP.

Asian Markets

Japan fell to a one week low while other major indices were higher. The Nikkei was down about 1.5 percent to close at 14,313.03 and the Hang Seng was up nearly 0.6 percent to finish at 22,298.41.

The Shanghai Composite closed 0.8 percent higher at 2,115.85 and the Kospi was up about 0.7 percent closing at 1,940.28.

European Markets

Europe is full of green arrows this morning. The FTSE is up about 0.2 percent at 6,667.73 and the DAX is 0.5 percent higher at 9,648.49. Finally, the CAC is 0.4 percent higher at 4,329.44.

Commodities

Commodities are mixed. WTI is down about 0.5 percent at $99.83 while Brent is 0.2 percent lower at $108.31. Natural gas is up one percent at $5.28 as the sharp rise in price continues.

Gold is up about 0.7 percent at $1,309.60 and silver is higher by about 2.5 percent at $20.91. Copper is unchanged.

Currencies

The euro is 0.1 percent higher against the dollar at 1.369 and the dollar is about 0.3 percent lower against the yen at 101.79

The pound is 0.2 percent higher against the dollar at 1.669 and the Aussie dollar is at 0.902 against the dollar—up about 0.5 percent.

Pre-Market Movers

Weight Watchers WTW is down 21 percent while GNC Holdings GNC is down 12 percent this morning. Cliffs Natural Resources CLF is up nearly six percent while Arena Pharmaceuticals ARNA is up four percent.

Notable Earnings

Earnings reports from Thursday:

• Agnico-Eagle Mines AEM reported fourth quarter EPS of $0.25, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19. Revenue of $437.24 million beat the consensus estimate of $410.9 million.
• Himax Tech HIMX reported fourth quarter EPS of $0.10, in-line with the consensus estimate. Revenue of $195.2 million beat the consensus estimate of $193.31 million.
• PepsiCoPEP reported fourth quarter EPS of $1.05, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01. Revenue of $20.12 billion missed the consensus estimate of $20.16 billion.
• Burger King Worldwide BKW reported fourth quarter EPS of $0.24, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23. Revenue of $265.2 million missed the consensus estimate of $267.25 million.
• Melco Crown Entertainment MPEL reported fourth quarter EPS of $0.43, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38. Revenue of $1.39 billion beat the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion.
• American International Group AIG reported fourth quarter EPS of $1.15, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96. Net income for the quarter totaled $1.98 billion, compared with a loss of $3.96 billion in the same quarter last year.

The following companies will report earnings today:

• Campbell Soup Company (NYSE: CPB) is projected to report its Q2 earnings at $0.73 per share on revenue of $2.27 billion.
• The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE: SJM) is estimated to report its Q3 earnings at $1.68 per share on revenue of $1.53 billion.
• ALLETE (NYSE: ALE) is expected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.84 per share on revenue of $260.90 million.
• Hyatt Hotels (NYSE: H) is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.20 per share on revenue of $1.08 billion.

To read today’s full earnings calendar, click here.

Economics

At 9:15, the Industrial Production report will reach the market and Consumer Sentiment will be reported at 9:55.