Америка сегодня. Рынок недвижимости, данные по безработице и производственная активность.

Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region ended Thursday on a higher note. Japan's Nikkei (+0.1%) underperformed, but still eked out a slim gain after the Bank of Japan made no changes to its policy stance. The central bank did make upbeat comments about reaching the 2.0% inflation target in the longer run. Separately, the People's Bank of China raised its short-term repurchase rates after yesterday's fed funds rate hike from the Federal Reserve.

• In economic data:
  • Australia's February Employment Change -6,400 (expected 16,000; last 13,500) and February Unemployment Rate 5.9% (expected 5.7%; last 5.7%). February Participation Rate held at 64.6%, as expected.
  • New Zealand's Q4 GDP +0.4% quarter-over-quarter (expected 0.7%; last 0.8%); +2.7% year-over-year (consensus 3.1%; last 3.3%). Q4 GDP Expenditure +0.2% quarter-over-quarter (expected 0.6%; last 0.9%)
  • Hong Kong's February Unemployment Rate held at 3.3%, as expected

---Equity Markets---

• Japan's Nikkei added 0.1%. Furukawa Electric, Minebea Mitsumi, Komatsu, SUMCO, Hino Motors, Okuma, Softbank, Hitachi Construction, and Yamaha advanced between 1.4% and 5.1%. On the downside, Toshiba fell 3.2% into the neighborhood of its low from February.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng rallied 2.1% to settle just below its high from September. China Unicom Hong Kong led the way with a 5.5% spike while financials like China Life Insurance, Bank of East Asia, ICBC, Bank of China, Ping An Insurance, and Hang Seng Bank posted gains between 1.7% and 3.6%.
• China's Shanghai Composite advanced 0.8%. Tongling Jingda Special Magnet Wire, Sichuan Minjiang Hydropower, Shanghai Chinafortune, Anhui Heli, and Kangxin New Materials added between 3.9% and 4.6%.
• India's Sensex rose 0.6%, posting a fresh record close. Growth-sensitive names like Adani Ports, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto, and Tata Motors climbed between 1.5% and 4.7%. Tech consultants like Infosys and Wipro added 1.6% and 1.2%, respectively.

---FX---

• USDJPY +0.1% to 113.48
• USDCNY -0.1% to 6.9016
• USDINR +0.4% to 65.470

• RBC stays at sector perform, but does raise its PT to $53 from $50. The firm believes sales were below expectations due to continued competitive pressures and a tough sales environment. The firm notes that while the PB brands (~60% of sales) were the primary source of underperformance, even the younger/faster growing West Elm slowed somewhat.
• Telsey Advisory maintains its Market Perform rating; tgt still at $51. The firm notes that Q4 EPS exceeded expectations and provided 2017 guidance in-line w/ expectations.The firm believes Williams-Sonoma is managing profitability well in a very competitive retail climate. However, the company's outlook embeds sales growth at Pottery Barn turning positive in 2H17 and the firm is concerned this could take longer to achieve.
• Wolfe Research stays at Peer Perform. The firm notes WSM continues to show inventory discipline (their IM Spread positively inflected at the end of 1Q16 for the first time in 20 quarters). The firm continues to expect sales growth to outpace inventory growth in 2H, thereby supporting margins, as evidenced by this quarter's better-than-expected GM.

WSM is currently up almost 2% around the 49 level in trading pre-market. 

• AcelRx Pharmaceuticals (ACRX) will present data from the DSUVIA (sufentanil sublingual tablet, 30 mcg) clinical program at two upcoming medical meetings. On March 16, 2017, during the annual meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine, AcelRx will present a poster from SAP101 comparing the pharmacokinetics of DSUVIA to that of an intravenous (IV) infusion of Sufenta (sufentanil citrate injection, 30 mcg). On March 21, 2017, AcelRx will present safety and efficacy findings from SAP302 during the International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine being held in Brussels. SAP302 was an open-label Phase 3 trial conducted in 76 adult patients who present to the emergency department with moderate-to-severe acute pain associated with trauma or injury.
• Glaukos Corporation (GKOS) announced that the Current Procedural Terminology Editorial Panel of the American Medical Association has granted five-year extensions to three Category III CPT codes that describe insertion of aqueous drainage devices into the anterior chamber of the eye using Micro-Invasive Glaucoma Surgery.
• Companhia Paranaense de Energia (ELP) hereby informs that the Executive Board of the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency — Aneel denied Copel Geração e Transmissão S.A.'s request to reconsider order 1580/2016, which rejected the administrative application for the recognition of exclusions of liability for the delay in the Colíder Hydroelectric Power Plant implementation schedule and the exemption of charges and regulatory, contractual or commercial penalties. Considering that the plant's startup schedule was impacted by government actions and force majeure events that occurred during the project's implementation, the co will take this matter to court with the certainty that Agency's decision will be overturned. The startup of the first generation unit is scheduled for Dec 2017 and the third and last generation unit is scheduled to begin operating in April 2018. The co also states that Copel GeT participated in the offer to reduce the Electricity Trading Contracts in the Regulated Environment — CCEARs related to the annual processing of the Mechanism for Compensation of Surpluses and Deficits — MCSD of New Energy for the product from Jan 1 to Dec 2017 and, as a result, the Colíder HPP obtained a full reduction of its contracts (125 average-MW) for 2017.

Major European indices trade higher across the board with Italy's MIB (+1.7%) showing relative strength. The upbeat disposition comes ahead of the release of the latest policy statement from the Bank of England, which is not expected to upset the current state of affairs. Elsewhere, the Swiss National Bank maintained its key rate at -0.75%, as expected. Also of note, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's People's Party for Freedom and Democracy received the most votes, but the party will now have 33 seats in the House of Representatives, down from 41 won in the 2012 election. Geert Wilders' PVV came in second, securing 20 seats. On a separate note, French BFM TV reported that one person was slightly injured in an explosion while opening an envelope at Paris offices of the International Monetary Fund. This comes after a package with explosives was found outside the German finance ministry yesterday. Greek anarchist group Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire claimed responsibility for yesterday's parcel bomb.

• In economic data:
  • Eurozone February CPI +0.4% month-over-month, as expected (last -0.8%); +2.0% year-over-year, as expected (last 2.0%). February Core CPI +0.4% month-over-month (last -1.7%); +2.0% year-over-year, as expected (last 2.0%)

---Equity Markets---

• France's CAC trades up 0.8% with ArcelorMittal jumping 3.0% while financials BNP Paribas, Societe Generale, and Credit Agricole are up between 0.9% and 2.4%. Peugeot and Renault show respective losses of 1.0% and 3.7% as regulators investigate Renault for violating emission standards.
• Germany's DAX has climbed 1.0% amid broad strength. Lufthansa has spiked 4.0% in reaction to fourth quarter results while Adidas, SAP, BASF, and Siemens rise between 1.0% and 2.3%. Volkswagen, Daimler, and BMW are up between 0.3% and 0.7%.
• UK's FTSE has added 1.0% with miners and energy names in the lead. Anglo American, Fresnillo, Antofagasta, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Glencore, Royal Dutch Shell, and BP are up between 1.7% and 8.6%. Anglo American is the top performer after Volcan Investments announced a $2.40 billion stake in the miner. Select consumer names lag with Paddy Power, Carnival, British American Tobacco, Sainsbury, Tesco, and Morrison Supermarkets showing losses between 0.3% and 1.1%.
• Italy's MIB outperforms with a gain of 1.7%. Banca Pop Emilia Romagna, Banco Bpm, UniCredit, FInecoBank, UBI Banca, and Mediobanca have gained between 1.8% and 3.1%.

Treasuries Pull Back as Central Banks Meet

• U.S. Treasuries are pulling back this morning from very strong post-FOMC gains on Wednesday. Yesterday's decision by the committee to hike rate by 25 basis points was accompanied by a more dovish than expected outlook, with the median FOMC participant forecasting a total of only three rate hikes in 2017. That dovish surprise has gold trading 2.06% higher at $1,225.4/troy oz. and the S&P 500 set to open at 2,388.8, up 0.16% from Wednesday's close but much higher from the index's pre-FOMC level. The U.S. Dollar Index is down by another 0.15% to 100.59 this morning and WTI crude is adding 0.76% to $49.23/bbl. Overnight, there were several rate decisions from central banks and the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee will report its decision at 08:00 ET
• Yield Check:
  • 2-yr: unch at 1.30%
  • 5-yr: +3 bps to 2.03%
  • 10-yr: +3 bps to 2.52%
  • 30-yr: +3 bps to 3.14%

• Central Bank News:
  • The Bank of Japan kept monetary policy on hold last night, maintaining the main policy rate at -0.10% and the target for the 10-year JGB yield at 0.00%. Asset purchases will remain near JPY80 tln/year
  • The People's Bank of China raised interbank borrowing costs today in the wake of the Federal Reserve's tightening move. The PBoC hiked rates of seven, 14, and 28-day reverse repos by 10 basis points each to 2.45%, 2.30%, and 2.75%, respectively
    • The move was meant to ease downward pressure on the Chinese currency 
  • Turkey's central bank kept its benchmark repo rate at 8.0% but hiked another liquidity facility's rate by 75 basis points to 11.75%, as expected
    • The CBRT's accompanying statement said that policymakers had decided to «strengthen monetary tightening in order to contain the deterioration in the inflation outlook.»
  • Norway's central bank kept its main policy rate on hold at 0.50%, as expected
    • While recognizing that ultra-loose monetary conditions may lead to financial instability, the Norges Bank said that it keep the rate at this level for longer than previously forecast
    • The central bank added that it anticipates that inflation will fall more quickly than previously expected but that «there are prospects that inflation will pick up again further out»
  • The Swiss National Bank kept its deposit rate at -0.75%, as expected, and said that it would remain active to keep a lid on the Swiss franc
• Economic Data:
  • New Zealand's GDP grew by 0.4% q/q in Q4 (2.7% y/y), missing forecasts and slowing from Q3's 0.8% growth
  • Australian employment fell by 6.4K workers in February, missing estimates for growth after a 13.5K increase in January
  • Eurozone CPI growth for February was confirmed at 0.4% m/m (2.0% y/y), as expected
    • The core CPI was up 0.9% y/y, well below the European Central Bank's 2% target

• Data out Today:
  • February Housing Starts and Building Permits (08:30 ET)
  • Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending 3/11 and Continuing Jobless Claims for the week ending 3/4 (08:30 ET)
  • March Philadelphia Fed (08:30 ET)

• RBC Capital Mkts raises their ORCL tgt to $47 from $46. Strength in recurring revenue streams and opex control drove the second consecutive quarter of constant currency operating income growth. Cloud bookings were strong and are at least on track for the year. While they expect debate around organic SaaS/ PaaS growth, they see the shape of the income statement improving.
• BMO: Given inconsistent performance, we believe that Oracle's quarter and guidance, while not spectacular, is enough to push the shares higher. Further, while Oracle has not always delivered against longer-term guidance, we believe that comments that EPS will grow by 10% in FY2018 will generate investor interest in the shares given current valuation. They are making minor adjustments to their estimates, and raising their target to $48 from $45, and retaining their Outperform rating.
• Wedbush raises tgt to $43 from $42. ORCL's 3Q/Feb. looked better than its 2Q performance, based on their calculations of organic results. As they expected, SaaS and PaaS metrics benefited from the addition of NetSuite, but they also looked better organically. Also, good cost control and an improved tax rate give them reasons to be more positive on the outlook for FY18 EPS growth. However, they remain concerned that consensus expectations for FY18 revenues (about 3% implied organic constant-currency Y/Y) look too high. Although margins could improve next year as optics benefit from the cloud transition, they think they could be pressured longer-term due to a more competitive cloud pricing environment for enterprise applications and database. They would stay on the sidelines.
• JMP upgrades to Mkt Perofrm
• JPMorgan upgrades to Overweight
• ORCL +6% nearing 2 year/all time highs premarket.

• Placement of units:
  • The warrants are exercisable, at any time on or after the sixth month anniversary of the closing date of the private placement, at a price of $3.50 per share, subject to adjustment, and expire three years from the date of issuance. The holders may, subject to certain limitations, exercise the Warrants on a cashless basis. the company is prohibited from effecting an exercise of any warrant to the extent that, as a result of any such exercise, the holder would beneficially own more than 9.99% of the number of shares of common stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to the issuance of shares of common stock upon exercise of such warrant.
• Placement of notes:
  • The notes shall be issued to each note investor in such note investor's subscription amount and shall be convertible into shares of common stock at an initial conversion price of $2.50. Each purchase warrant shall be exercisable into shares of common stock at an exercise price equal to $3.56 per share.

• InterCloud Systems (ICLD) announced that it was recently awarded over $1.6 mln in new contracts to provide next-generation Wi-Fi and DAS network upgrades. A majority of the work is expected to begin immediately.
• eBay Advertising, a division of eBay (EBAY), announced a shift in its advertising strategy to focus on first-party data and offerings that will help brands drive commerce on the core eBay Marketplace. As part of this strategy, eBay Advertising is building a direct ad sales team for the first time, focused on developing commerce partnerships with global brands to reach buyers at every stage of the shopping journey. The company is also announcing a record 48% increase in the number of advertising customers acquired in 2016. eBay Advertising is working with the world's largest auto, consumer electronics, fashion, health & beauty and home & garden brands.
• Effective as of Mar 16, 2017, the Board of Biostage (BSTG) appointed Saverio LaFrancesca, M.D., the co's Chief Medical Officer, as President of the co. Dr. LaFrancesca will also continue to serve as the co's Chief Medical Officer. James McGorry, who had served as the co's President prior to the effective date, will continue to serve as CEO & principal executive officer.
• Epsilon, an Alliance Data (ADS) co, announced it has signed a new agreement with Harvest Hill Beverage Co to provide experiential event services for Juicy Juice Splashers and its title sponsorship of the KIDZ BOP Best Time Ever national tour.
• Abiomed (ABMD) announced that there are more than 10 presentations, including a late-breaking clinical research presentation, featuring the Impella line of heart pumps, in addition to 17 poster presentations scheduled during the American College of Cardiology's 66th Annual Scientific Session, March 17-19 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC.
• Intellipharmaceutics International (IPCI) disclosed that effective at the opening of trading on Mar 20, 2017 common shares of the co will commence trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol «IPCI».

Upgrades: 

• Norsk Hydro (NHYDY) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan
• Intertek Group (IKTSY) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank
• Empire Co. (EMLAF) upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays
• Tullow Oil plc (TUWLF) upgraded to Hold from Sell at Panmure
• Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Exane BNP Paribas

Downgrades: 

• Hikma (HKMPF) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan
• John Wood Group plc (WDGJF) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Exane BNP Paribas

Miscellaneous: 

• Premier Oil plc (PMOIY) initiated with a Buy at Peel Hunt
• DevroPLC (DEVOY) resumed with a Hold at N+1

The S&P 500 futures trade four points above fair value.

Housing starts increased to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1.288 million units in February, up from a revised 1.251 million units in January (from 1.246 million). The Briefing.com consensus expected starts to increase to 1.260 million units. Building permits decreased to a seasonally adjusted 1.213 million in February from a revised 1.293 million (from 1.285 million) for January. The Briefing.com consensus expected a reading of 1.251 million.

The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 241,000 while the Briefing.com consensus expected a reading of 242,000. Today's tally was below the unrevised prior week count of 243,000. As for continuing claims, they declined to 2.030 million from the revised count of 2.060 million (from 2.058 million).

The Philadelphia Fed Survey for March declined to 32.8 from an unrevised 43.3 in February while economists polled by Briefing.com had expected a reading of 25.0.