Islamic State militants released another video depicting the beheading of a second American journalist in as many weeks. Following the release of the video, the Wall Street Journal reported that President Obama ordered 350 additional military troops to travel to Iraq in order to protect US diplomatic facilities. ISIS has said the beheadings were in retaliation to the US’ airstrikes in Iraq and will likely put more pressure on the White House to take stronger action against the group. However, Obama has shown no signs of shifting his current course so far.
In other news around the markets:
Home Depot Inc. HD is looking into a security breach that could have exposed customer credit and debit card data. The company has admitted to looking into “unusual activity” but is waiting to announce the details until a data breach has been confirmed. On Tuesday, Home Depot assured customers that they would be notified as soon as possible if their data is at risk.
On Wednesday, CVS Caremark Corp CVS is expected to announce a new name that will coincide with its final sale of tobacco products across the US. The company, slated to be called CVS Health, will be losing out on $2 billion in annual sales from tobacco products, but is hoping to distinguish itself from other pharmacies as a provider of health services.
- Apple AAPL is racing to do damage control after a recent security breach in its iCloud data resulted in the release of several nude celebrity photos. The company is gearing up for a new product launch on September 9, and the iCloud issues could hang a dark cloud over the highly anticipated introduction of Apple’s latest offerings.
- Disappointment over China’s weak manufacturing PMI reading was offset on Wednesday after the nation’s services sector improved in August. HSBC’s services PMI reading for China was 54.2 in August, a surprisingly large jump from July’s 50.0 reading.
Asian Markets
Asian markets were mostly higher with the exception of the KOSPI, which lost 0.02 percent. The NIKKEI was up 0.38 percent, the Shanghai composite rose 0.83 percent, the Shenzhen composite rose 0.75 percent and the Hang Seng index was up 1.91 percent.
European Markets
Europe’s markets began the day on a high note; the FTSE rose 0.26 percent, the STOXX 600 was up 0.27 percent, the DAX gained 0.35 percent and the CAC 40 was up 0.40 percent.
Energy futures rose on Wednesday; Brent futures gained 0.43 percent and WTI futures were up 0.37 percent. Gold and silver gained 0.33 percent and 0.46 percent respectively and industrial metals were mostly higher with the exception of tin, which lost 0.62 percent. Copper gained 0.05 percent, aluminum rose 0.57 percent and zinc gained 0.89 percent.
The euro was steady at $1.3134, but lost 0.05 percent against the pound and 0.17 percent against the yen. The dollar also lost against the yen, down 0.12 percent, and fell 0.03 percent against the pound and 0.31 percent against the Australian dollar.
Earnings
Notable earnings released on Tuesday included:
Conn’s, Inc. CONN reported second quarter EPS of $0.50 on revenue of $353.00 million, compared to last year’s EPS of $0.52 on revenue of $270.69 million.
Aviat Networks, Inc. AVNW reported a fourth quarter loss of $0.13 on revenue of $85.09 million, compared to last year’s EPS of $0.01 on revenue of $109.00 million.
Stocks moving in the Premarket included:
Notable earnings expected on Wednesday include:
Navistar International Corporation NAV is expected to report a third quarter loss of $0.66 on revenue of $2.96 billion, compared to last year’s loss of $2.94 on revenue of $2.86 billion.
PVH Corp PVH is expected to report second quarter EPS of $1.42 on revenue of $1.99 billion, compared to last year’s EPS of $1.39 on revenue of $1.96 billion.
- ABM Industries Incorporated ABM is expected to report third quarter EPS of $0.46 on revenue of $1.27 billion, compared to last year’s EPS of $0.41 on revenue of $1.22 billion.
- Toll Brothers Inc. TOL is expected to report third quarter EPS of $0.45 on revenue of $989.29 million, compared to last year’s EPS of $0.26 on revenue of $689.16 million.
Economics
PMI readings will dominate the economic calendar again on Wednesday with Germany, Spain, Italy, France, the eurozone and the UK set to release services PMI figures. Other notable economic releases will include the US redbook and eurozone retail sales.
For a recap of Tuesday’s market action, click here.
<p>Tune into Benzinga’s pre-market info show with Dennis Dick and Joel Elconin <a> http://optionshouse.benzinga.com/pre-market-show/ />here</a>.</p>
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