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Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures Jump on China Stimulus

The People's Bank of China surprised some with its actions

Apr 20, 2015 at 8:40 AM
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After last week's horrific ending, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is set to jump to an early lead, thanks to an effort by the People's Bank of China (PBoC) to add liquidity to the market. While there are no major economic events on the calendar, we will see some prominent names release earnings, including Dow component IBM (NYSE:IBM) and crude giant Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL). Speaking of crude, it's currently extending its losses from Friday, down more than 1% ahead of the open.

And now, on to the numbers...

Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P and Nasdaq futures

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are nearly 117 points above fair value.

Market Statistics

The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 1.2 million call contracts traded on Friday, compared to 877,867 put contracts. The resultant single-session equity put/call ratio jumped to 0.74, while the 21-day moving average remained at 0.64.

NYSE and Nasdaq summary

Volatility indices

Currencies and Commodities

  • The U.S. dollar index is up 0.5% at 97.96.
  • Crude oil has fallen 1.3% to trade at $56.55 per barrel.
  • Gold is off 0.4% at $1,198.00 per ounce.
Currencies and commodities

Earnings and Economic Data

There are no notable economic reports scheduled today. However, IBM, HAL, HAS, Steel Dynamics (STLD), and Morgan Stanley (MS) will report earnings. To see what else is on this week's agenda, click here.

Overseas Trading

Asian stocks ended mostly lower today, after the PBoC slashed its reserve requirement ratio by a steeper-than-expected margin. China's Shanghai Composite was able to touch yet another seven-year-high in intraday action, but closed 1.6% lower. Japan's Nikkei closed with a 0.1% loss, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng sliding 2%. South Korea's Kospi, on the other hand, was able to edge out a 0.2% lead.

Unlike their Asian counterparts, European stocks were mostly higher at last check. Germany's DAX is paving the way upward with a 1.7% gain. London's FTSE 100 has added 0.7%, with France's CAC 40 tacking on 0.5%.

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 the inconvenience.

 
 

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