OVERNIGHT MARKETS AND NEWS

March E-mini S&Ps (ESH16 +0.42%) are up +0.36% at a 2-week high and European stocks are up +1.06% at a 1-1/2 week high as crude oil moved higher and after St. Louis Fed President Bullard said the Fed should delay interest rate hikes. U.S. stock index futures fell back from their best levels as Wal-Mart slid 3% in pre-market trading after it lowered its sales forecast for the year. Mar crude is up +2.45% at a 2-week high after API data late Wednesday showed U.S. crude inventories fell -3.26 million bbl and St. Louis Fed President Bullard said that recent turmoil that has contributed to a decline in inflation expectations gives the Fed scope to delay further interest rate increases. Asian stocks settled mostly higher: Japan +2.28%, Hong Kong +2.32%, China -0.16%, Taiwan +1.22%, Australia +2.25%, Singapore +1.67%, South Korea +1.21%, India +1.14%. China’s Shanghai Composite retreated from a 3-week high and closed lower after government data showed inflation picked up in January on rising food prices.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.12%) is up +0.10%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.28%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.23%.

Mar T-note prices (ZNH16 -0.02%) are down -1 tick.

St. Louis Fed President Bullard suggested Wednesday evening that he favors delaying further interest rate hikes when he said “I regard it as unwise to continue a normalization strategy in an environment of declining market-based inflation expectations.”

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) cut its 2016 global GDP forecast to 3.0%, down from a 3.3% projection in Nov, citing a slowdown in Germany and the U.S. along with exchange-rate volatility that may hurt emerging markets.

The China Jan CPI rose +1.8% y/y, weaker than expectations of +1.9% y/y, but still the fastest pace of increase in 5 months. Jan PPI fell -5.3% y/y, a smaller decline than expectations of -5.4% y/y.

U.S. STOCK PREVIEW

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) weekly initial unemployment claims (expected +6,000 to 275,000, previous -16,000 to 269,000) and continuing claims (expected +11,000 to 2.250 million, previous -21,000 to 2.239 million), (2) Feb Philadelphia Fed business outlook index (expected +0.5 to -3.0, Jan +6.7 to -3.5), (3) Jan leading indicators (expected -0.2%, Dec -0.2%), (4) the Treasury’s auction of $7 billion of 30-year TIPS, (5) San Francisco Fed President John Williams’ speech on the economic outlook at an event in Los Angeles, and (6) EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report.