30Sep2015 Pre-Market Commentary: U.S. Futures Higher, WTI Oil Lower, U.S. Dollar Rising

Written by Gary

U.S. stock future indexes are rallying this morning getting a boost from upbeat trading in Asia and Europe, as investors wait for Federal Reserve speakers and Friday’s jobs report.

Global equities are all in the green and are set to end September in what’s been a brutal three months on a positive note. Markets expected to open 1% higher and close in the green.

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money
	European markets are sharply higher today with shares in France leading the region. The CAC 40 is up 2.54% while Germany’s DAX is up 2.43% and London’s FTSE 100 is up 2.05%.

What Is Moving the Markets

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	U.S. private sector adds 200,000 jobs in September: ADP NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. private employers added 200,000 jobs in September, beating economists’ expectations and suggesting there might be enough jobs growth for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates later this year, a report by a payrolls processor showed on Wednesday.
	September 2015 ADP Job Growth at 200,000 – At Consensus Expectations Written by Steven Hansen ADP reported non-farm private jobs growth at 200,000. The rolling averages of year-over-year jobs growth rate remains strong but the rate of growth continues in a downtrend.
	Volkswagen readies external inquiry into emissions scandal: source BERLIN (Reuters) – Senior Volkswagen executives will examine on Wednesday findings from an internal investigation into its rigging of vehicle emission tests and prepare for an external inquiry, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
	Carl Icahn Puts Washington in His Sights The billionaire investor says the U.S. is heading toward financial collapse, and he is considering funding his own political-action committee.
	China Now Fifth in World Gold Holdings In his article for Bloomberg Business Ranjeetha Pakiam takes a look at China’s recent accumulations in gold and how the country now compares in the world league table on gold holdings. He observes that there is a deliberate policy of increased transparency in China “as the country improves data quality, increases its presence in commodities trading and promotes the international role of the yuan”. China has overtaken Russia to become the country with the fifth-largest gold hoard China’s accumulation of physical gold is being tipped to continue by market experts Monthly reporting increases Chinese transparency after years of mystery DAILY PRICES Today’s Gold Prices: USD 1122.50, EUR 1000.08 and GBP 739.12 per ounce. Yesterday’s Gold Prices: USD 1124.60, EUR 1001.16 and GBP 741.36 per ounce. (LBMA AM) Gold in GBP – 1 month Gold closed at $1127.50 yesterday with a $4.40 loss on the day. Silver was up $0.05 at close to $14.64, a gain of 0 …
	Frontrunning: September 30 Asia shares rally, but on track for worst quarterly loss in four years (Reuters) Global Rally Shows Relief at End of $11 Trillion Stocks Meltdown (BBG) Glencore Extends Rebound as Turmoil Shows Signs of Easing (BBG) Putin wins parliamentary backing for air strikes in Syria (Reuters) China Cuts Minimum Home Down Payment for First-Time Buyers (BBG) German Unemployment Unexpectedly Rises in Sign of Economic Risks (BBG) Japan Industrial Output Slide Hints at Recession (WSJ) Japan Says China Wins Indonesia High-Speed Rail Contract (WSJ) China Aircraft Carrier Launch by End-2015 Plausible, Experts Say (BBG) Ralph Lauren Hands Reins to an Outsider (
	Natural Experiment Sheds Light On The Market Effects Of Herding from Liberty Street Economics — this post authored by Sushant Acharya and Alvaro Pedraza Pension funds are expected to behave in a patient, countercyclical manner, making the most of low valuations over the business cycle to achieve high returns. Such behavior provides liquidity and stability to the financial system. However, this belief has come under question. A large theoretical literature has emerged which looks at how short-term considerations affecting these institutional investors might arise from relative performance concerns or from the influence of other incentives introduced by market and regulatory monitoring. Such considerations might incentivize fund managers to mimic others and herd toward common assets. Given the sizable wealth under management by these investors, such herding behavior can potentially have large effects on asset prices both in the short and long run.
	Futures rise as global stocks rebound, ADP data awaited (Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures rose more than 1 percent on Wednesday, a day after the S&P 500 snapped a 5-day losing streak, ahead of key private sector employment data.
	Average Apple Watch sells for $529, at top end of estimates: report (Reuters) – Apple Inc’s new Watch sells for an average of $529, including accessories, at the high end of Wall Street estimates, according to findings by research firm Wristly.
	Sainsbury’s profit upgrade cheers British supermarkets LONDON (Reuters) – British supermarket Sainsbury’s raised its profit forecast and posted better-than-expected quarterly sales on Wednesday, sending its shares soaring on hopes the worst may be over for the battered sector.
	Stocks, Futures Soar As Europe Joins Japan In Deflation, Surge Driven By Hopes For More Japan, ECB QE Terrible economic news is wonderful news for markets, all over again, and with the worst S&P500 quarter since 2011 set to close today, some horribly “great” news is just what the window-dressing hedge funds, most of whom are deeply underperforming the broader market (not to mention Dennis Gartman) ordered. Days after Japan returned to deflation for the first time since 2013, confirming Abenomics 1.0 was a failure (hence Abe’s launch of Abenomics 2.0 which will be even worse)… … and after reporting even more abysmal industrial production and retail sales data, which in turn prompted a bevy of banks to cut their Q3 GDP forecasts to negative (JPM now expected Q3 GDP of -1.0%) and unleash yet another technical recession for Japan, the fifth since the financial crisis, the Yen plunged following the latest round of loud, renewed calls for a boost to the BOJ QE, and JPM in fact made the October 30 BOJ meeting its base case for further central bank easing. Abe advisors Honda and Takenaka both confirmed more BOJ easing is just a matter of time, as a result pushing the USDJPY solidly above the market critical 120 level. And then, just a few hours later, we got the latest …
	Oil down on large U.S. crude stockpile build LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices slipped on Wednesday after an unexpectedly big build in U.S. crude inventories, further evidence of an oversupply that has helped halve global spot prices over the last year.
	WTO cites China, U.S., refugee costs as risks to trade growth GENEVA (Reuters) – World trade will grow by 2.8 percent this year and could be pegged back further by a U.S. interest rate rise, China’s economic slowdown or Europe’s refugee crisis, the World Trade Organization said on Wednesday.
	Volkswagen to refit cars affected by emissions scandal BERLIN (Reuters) – Volkswagen said on Tuesday it will repair up to 11 million vehicles and overhaul its namesake brand following the scandal over its rigging of emissions tests.
	Bank of Japan Can’t Wish Away Looming Recession With Japan heading into a possible recession, pressure is building on the central bank to ease monetary policy further.
	China Can’t Keep Car Market’s Pedal to the Metal China’s auto stimulus can’t bring forward too much demand when the overall economy is in a funk
	Multinational China execs feel chill wind, not hot growth SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s economy is officially growing at a brisk clip of 7 percent, but many locally based executives at multinationals say they wouldn’t know it from the performance of their businesses.
	Asia shares rally, but on track for worst quarterly loss in four years TOKYO/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Asian stock markets rallied on Wednesday after sliding to 3-year lows, but concerns lingered over slumping commodities prices and China’s cooling economy.
	Early Headlines: Equities Worse Quarter In 4 Years, Buy Commodities?, High MA In Europe, Death Of Diesel, India Tops World FDI And More Written by John Lounsbury Early Bird Headlines 30 September 2015 Econintersect: Here are some of the headlines we found to help you start your day. For more headlines see our afternoon feature for GEI members, What We Read Today, which has many more headlines and a number of article discussions to keep you abreast of what we have found interesting.
	StanChart aims to hire financial crime compliance staff in Middle East DUBAI (Reuters) – Standard Chartered plans to hire several financial crime-fighting staff in the Middle East, according to online jobs postings, as it seeks to strengthen controls after legal and compliance problems in the United States.