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China's third-quarter gross domestic product beat expectations
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:DJI) is sitting solidly higher ahead of the bell, as traders cheer the latest growth figures out of China, and last night's better-than-expected earnings data from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). On the economic front, existing home sales will be released today. Meanwhile, no fewer than five DJI components will report quarterly numbers, including The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ).
And now, on to the numbers...
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average 2 Minute (INDEXDJX:.DJI) are more than 93 points above fair value.
Market Statistics
The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 1.15 million call contracts traded on Monday, compared to 674,191 put contracts. The resultant single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.59, while the 21-day moving average held steady at 0.70.
Currencies and Commodities
- The U.S. dollar index is 0.3% higher at 85.20.
- Crude oil has gained 0.3% to $82.93 per barrel.
- Elsewhere, gold has tacked on 0.4% to $1,249.40 per ounce.
Earnings and Economic Data
Existing home sales is the only item on today's docket. Five Dow components will be in the earnings spotlight, with KO, McDonald's (MCD), Travelers (TRV), United Technologies (UTX), and VZ reporting. Elsewhere, Yahoo! (YHOO), Apollo Group (APOL), ARM Holdings (ARMH), Broadcom (BRCM), Cree (CREE), Discover (DFS), E*Trade (ETFC), Harley-Davidson (HOG), Kimberly-Clark (KMB), Lexmark (LXK), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Reynolds American (RAI), Sonic (SONC), and VMware (VMW) will step into the earnings confessional.
Overseas Trading
Asian bourses ended mostly lower, following the release of China's third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP). While the GDP edged economists' consensus estimate, the 7.3% growth rate was the slowest pace in almost six years; also, retail sales and fixed-asset investment data missed their respective projections. By the close, China's Shanghai Composite was off 0.7%. Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei gave back 2% on profit-taking, a session after gaining 4%. Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.1%, and South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.8%.
Stocks in Europe are firmly higher, strengthened by the latest round of earnings reports, as well as expectations the European Central Bank (ECB) will soon provide additional liquidity by buying corporate bonds. What's more, new European Union (EU) debt and deficit figures from Eurostat were slightly encouraging. Around midday, London's FTSE has popped 0.9%, France's CAC 40 has jumped 1.8%, and Germany's DAX is up 1.5%.
Unusual Put and Call Activity:
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