Overnight manufacturing data out of China is causing investors to take a step back assess the currently rally. Analysts are coming out saying that the Dow remains in overbought territory and there is now a downside risk. Dow futures are currently down 69 points to 12,997. Nasdaq 100 futures are down over 14 points to 2,721. The S&P 500 futures are down 8.75 points to 1,388.75.
Jobless claims continue to fall. This week’s reading came in at 348k. Claims from last week were revised up from 351k to 353k. Continuing claims dropped by 9k as people rolled off the extended unemployment benefit. The number represents the lowest level since February of 2008.
Domestic market pressure is definitely coming from overseas this morning. Last night’s Chinese manufacturing number not only showed a contraction, but acceleration of the contraction. New orders slowed to a 4-month low.
China was not the only area for concern. Data out of Europe also showed accelerating contractions. A private-sector PMI showed an accelerating contraction for March.
Commodity prices are following the major indices into negative territory this morning. Gold prices are nearly $14 to 1636.40. Nymex crude futures are negative as well, down over a dollar to $106.24 per barrel.
Stocks to watch today include Pozen Inc. (NASDAQ:POZN), DISH Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH), Origin Agritech Ltd. (NASDAQ:SEED), Amarin Corporation (NASDAQ:AMRN), ING Group (NYSE:ING), Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI) and Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK).
Pozen, Inc. (NASDAQ:POZN) is up 13.33% in pre market trading today at $5.45. POZN has already eclipsed its average volume today and has traded over 100 thousand shares this morning. Pozen announced this morning positive top-line results from two pivotal Phase 3 studies of PA32540. The company has a market cap of 143.88 million.
DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ:DISH) is up 6.62% in pre market trading at $34.49. DISH trades 2.5 million shares a day on average. The FCC gave DISH a boost yesterday after they proposed rewriting the rules to let the company use its satellite broadcast spectrum it bought solely on the ground. The current rules say you have to include satellite use of the airwaves at 40 megahertz. The company has a market cap 14.46 billion.
Origin Agritech Limited (NASDAQ:SEED) is up 4.85% in pre market trading at $3.24. Origin shares shot up yesterday on reports it was close to approval in China. Volume was heavy yesterday with over 5.3 million shares traded, crushing its daily average of 145 thousand shares. The company has a market cap of 72.25 million.
Amarin Corporation (NASDAQ:AMRN) is up 2.77% in pre market trading at $12.25. Amarin stock has jumped up over $4 a share in the past week thanks to news the company won a U.S. patent for key heart drug. AMRN has traded more than 24 thousand shares so far this morning and trades over 4 million shares a day on average. The company has a market cap of 1.62 billion.
ING Group (NYSE:ING) is down 2.12% in pre market trading at $8.78. ING has traded 1.51 million shares already this morning and averages around 3.86 million shares a day. ING shares are off its recent monthly high of $9.40 to around $8.75. The company has a market cap of 33.95 billion.
Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI) is down nearly 1% in pre market trading at $2.24. SIRI has traded 122 thousand shares this morning and trades 51.4 million shares a day on average. SIRI shares are off its recent high of $2.35, but still up about $0.40 a share on the year. The company has a market cap of 8.49 billion.
Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) is down 1.88% in pre market trading at $5.23. NOK has traded 98 thousand shares this morning and trades 31.6 million shares a day on average. Nokia Siemens Networks announced today it will cut more than 620 jobs in Finland. The company remains on target to cut 17,000 jobs globally. The company has a market cap of 19.78 billion.
About Danny Fisher
