3 Things to Consider When Trading Today

Palm Beach, FL 4/4/12 (StreetBeat) -- Stocks were weaker in Asian trade. The Nikkei was among the worst with a loss of 2.3%, but Australia was essentially unchanged and Chinese markets were closed. European indexes are generally lower this morning; the Dax is down 1.8% and the Footsie is lower by one and a quarter percent. US stock futures are about three quarters of a percent lower as I write.

*The February reading of Australia’s Trade Balance is a deficit of A$480 million, well below the surplus of A$1.1 billion that was expected and the second deficit in a row for the first time in two years.

*The February reading of Euro Zone Retail Sales is -0.1% on a monthly basis, one tenth smaller decline than forecast.

*The final March reading of the Euro Zone’s service sector PMI was revised up a half point to 49.2.

*The ECB left rates steady at 1.00% as expected. Bank boss Draghi will tell us all about it at 7:30am CDT.

*The final March reading of Germany’s service sector PMI was revised up three tenths to 52.1.

*The February reading of German Factory Orders was up just 0.3%, well short of the 1.5% gain that was forecast.

*The March reading of the UK’s service sector PMI was up 1.5 points from the month before to 55.3; a fractional decline was expected.

*UK house prices were up 2.2% in March, according to Halifax; better than the two tenths increase that was expected.

*US mortgage applications were up 4.8% in the week ended March 30, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Both main components were up; Purchases by 7.2% and Refinancings by 4.0%.

*ADP is set to release at 7:15am CDT its estimate for the net change in March for private sector payrolls; it is expected to be +206k. The March reading of the ISM Non-manufacturing Composite Index is due out at 9:00am CDT; it is forecast to be 56.8, down a half point from the month before.

*The weekly report on energy inventories is due out at 9:30am CDT. Stocks of Crude Oil are forecast to increase 2.5 million barrels, Gasoline inventories are expected to decline 1.4 million and the estimate for Distillates is -500k.

*The Fed is scheduled to buy Treasuries twice today. The first tranche is paper due to mature between 2/15/36 and 2/15/42; these results will be announced just after 10:00am CDT. The second bit is paper due to mature between 4/30/18 and 2/15/20; these results will be announced just after 1:00pm CDT.

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