BUY, SELL, HOLD (2)

IBM Earnings, Europe Pressure Dow Jones Industrial Average Lower

International Business Machines Corp.'s earnings miss is stoking investor fears

Oct 20, 2014 at 8:15 AM
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:DJI) is pointed sharply lower, as a severe earnings miss at International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) is stoking fears of continued volatility. Also pressuring U.S. stocks lower are European markets, which are reeling on an earnings miss from German tech giant SAP SE (ADR) (NYSE:SAP). Looking ahead, today's calendar is chock full of quarterly reports, including highly anticipated data from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) after the close.

And now, on to the numbers...

Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P and Nasdaq futures

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average 2 Minute (INDEXDJX:.DJI) are more than 86 points below fair value.

Market Statistics

The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 1.5 million call contracts traded on Friday, compared to 1.1 million put contracts. The resultant single-session equity put/call ratio jumped to 0.71, while the 21-day moving average edged up to 0.70.

NYSE and Nasdaq summary

Volatility indices

Currencies and Commodities

  • The U.S. dollar index is fractionally lower at 85.09.
  • Crude oil is 0.2% higher at $82.90 per barrel.
  • Elsewhere, gold has popped 0.5% to $1,245.30 per ounce.
Currencies and commodities

Earnings and Economic Data

There are no notable economic reports today. For earnings, AAPL, IBM, Chipotle (CMG), Gannett (GCI), Halliburton (HAL), Hasbro (HAS), Illumina (ILMN), Peabody Energy (BTU), Rambus (RMBS), Steel Dynamics (STLD), Texas Instruments (TXN), and Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) will report.

Overseas Trading

Stocks in Asia finished higher, as China's Communist Party kicked off its fourth plenum, during which officials are expected to reveal a series of legal reforms to curb local-level corruption. Japan's Nikkei posted its largest single-day gain in over a year, adding 4%, helped by reports that the nation's $1.2 trillion public pension fund will up its allocation of domestic stocks to 25%. Also, China's Shanghai Composite rebounded from Friday's three-week low to end 0.7% higher. Finally, Hong Kong's Hang Seng and South Korea's Kospi added 0.2% and 1.6%, respectively.

European bourses are in the red, amid the latest round of disappointing earnings reports and M&A news. Germany's DAX is down 1.4%, pressured by a year-over-year drop in German producer prices last month, as well as poorly received profit data and forward guidance at IT firm SAP. Elsewhere, London's FTSE is off 1.1%, and France's CAC 40 has tumbled 1.3%, as shares of investment holding group Bollore sell off on a bid to buy advertising firm Havas.

Overseas markets

Unusual Put and Call Activity:

Due to issues with our data provider, the Unusual Put and Call charts are unavailable today. We apologize for any inconvenience.

 

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