Stock Futures Higher on Chinese GDP Data. Stocks to Watch: APKT, AAPL, BAC, FB, JPM, LXK, NWY, WFC

Published on Friday, 13 July 2012 07:30 Written by Christopher Lynn

New York, July 13^th  (TradersHuddle.com) – Stock futures were pointing to a higher open after Chinese GDP data gave no signs of a hard landing for the Chinese economy. Growth was at its slowest pace since 2009, but was inline with projections. Participants also focused on JPMorgan results, which showed that the trading loss was smaller than what participants feared.

In Asia, stocks gained after China’s second quarter GDP was inline with what economists had expected. China’s economy grew 7.6% in the April to June quarter, the slowest pace since the first quarter of 2009, but still inline with forecast, which helped eased concerns that the world’s second largest economy was cooling down at a much faster pace. The Shanghai Composite edged a gain of 0.02%, while the Nikkei climbed 0.05%, as China’s industrial production output also match predictions.

In Europe, markets were rebounding from the losses in the prior session following inline Chinese GDP figures. The data helped eased concerns over global growth and was weak enough to maintain hopes for additional stimulus measures for the Chinese economy. Moody’s downgraded Italy’s credit rating by two notches, but markets had treated it as a non-event, however Italian 10-year yields have seen an impact, trading over 6%.

The euro was climbing against the Dollar, trading just above the $1.22 level. Crude oil was gaining 0.76% to $86.73 per barrel. Also in the energy complex, natural gas was sliding 0.24% to $2.867 per MMBtu. Gold was jumping 1% to $1581.00 an ounce, and silver was adding 0.77% to $27.37 an ounce. Meanwhile, copper was advancing 0.92%.

On economic news, at 8:30 am, the Labor Department will release its Producer Price Index data and at 9:55 am, July University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment will be released.

Today’s Stocks to watch: Acme Packet (NASDAQ: APKT), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) Lexmark International (NYSE: LXK), New York & Co. (NYSE: NWY), and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC).

Acme Packet (NASDAQ: APKT) will be in focus after jumping more than 6% to $16.60 in after hours following the announcement that its board has authorized up to $200 million in share repurchases over the next year.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), the maker of iPads and iPhones, was adding 0.35% to $601 in pre-market, as it stages a small rebound from the loss in the prior session that was inline with the broad technology sector. The company is scheduled to report its quarterly results on July 24^th after the market closes, with analysts on average expecting a profit of $10.34 per share on revenues of $37.37 billion. Earlier in the week, UBS initiated its coverage on the stock with a Buy and a target price of $740, while money manager David Einhorn said on CNBC that he is still a big bull on Apple with a 2 to 3 year horizon. Also, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster gave a bullish outlook on the tech giant, saying that it expects the iPad and iPhone maker could sell up to 6 million mini iPads in the December quarter. The stock’s 20day moving average is at the $587 area and the 50day moving average at the $574 area.

Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), the social media Company, was unchanged in pre-market. The stock has been under some pressure, losing 2.9% so far this week. Earlier in the week, Fast Money trader Karen Finerman suggested going long Google and short Facebook due to the valuation differential, while Needham said that it expects the company to report earnings that are inline with consensus of $0.11 per share on revenue of $1.207 billion, which is slightly above consensus of $1.15 billion. The firm has a target price for the stock of $40 per share. Facebook is scheduled to report its first quarterly results after its flopped IPO on July 26^th.

JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) was climbing 0.15% to $34.09 in pre-market on early reaction to the company’s second quarter results and first quarter restatement. The lender restated first quarter results, cutting net income by $459 million or $0.12 per share due to the firm's Chief Investment Office (CIO) synthetic credit portfolio. Additionally, JPMorgan announced that it’s closing down its Chief Investment Office Synthetic Group. For the second quarter, the bank said it earned $1.21 per share on revenues of $22.18 billion, above expectations of $21.70 billion. The firm posted a $4.4 billion pretax loss from its CIO trading loss.

Rival Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) was climbing 0.40% to $7.51 in pre-market after slumping nearly 2%, below its 50day moving average, in the prior session, following JPMorgan results. The Charlotte, NC based bank will report its own quarterly results on Wednesday July 18^th before the bell, in which analysts on average expect a profit of $0.15 per share on revenues of $22.87 billion.

Lexmark International (NYSE: LXK), the maker of printers and imaging solutions, plunged more than 9% in after hours to $22, adding to its weak performance in the prior session, in which the stock tumbled 7.53%. Lexmark issued downside guidance for the second quarter due to weakness in Europe, and a larger than expected impact from unfavorable changes in currency exchange rates. The company sees EPS in a range of $0.87 to $0.89 versus consensus of $1 on revenues that will climb 12% from a year ago to $919.6 million, below consensus of $960.88 million. Yesterday, the stock suffered from a downgrade at Barclays. The firm cut its rating to Underweight from Equal Weight and lowered its target price to $24 from $29 saying their research continues to point toward increased pressure on printing due to secular and macroeconomic headwinds.

New York & Co. (NYSE: NWY), the specialty retailer of Women’s fashion and accessories, will be in focus after jumping more than 4% in after hours trading. The company announced that based on quarter-to-date performance and expectations for the balance of the quarter it expects to exceed second quarter guidance. New York & Co. now sees that second quarter same store sales will be up slightly and gross margin will increase between 400 and 500 basis points.

Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) will be in focus, as the lender is scheduled to report its quarterly results later this morning, joining rival JPMorgan as the first big banks reporting its earnings. Wells is expected to report a sharp rise in second quarter profits, with analysts on average expecting a profit of $0.81 per share, a 15.7% jump from a year ago, on revenues of $21.35 billion.