Stocks Little Changed; ECB in Focus

U.S. Market
Stocks were little changed this morning as the European Central Bank took center stage.

As expected, the ECB kept its key interest rate unchanged. In a press conference, central bank head Mario Draghi said that the ECB is ready to pursue more aggressive unconventional stimulus measures. The comments come amidst continued worried about low inflation and growth levels in the eurozone.

Initial unemployment claims fell by 10,000 to 278,000 last week, well below the 285,000 claims expected by economists. The less volatile four-week moving average fell to the lowest level since 2000. The upbeat data comes ahead of tomorrow’s payroll and unemployment rate report.

U.S. productivity rose at a 2% clip in the third-quarter, ahead of the 1.5% increase expected by economists. Unit labor costs were up 0.3% in the period. Second-quarter productivity was revised upward to 2.9% from 2.3%.

At midday the Dow was up 0.2%, the S&P 500 was 0.1% higher while the Nasdaq was unchanged.

Stocks on the Move
Whole Foods Market's (WFM) shares jumped almost 11% after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings. Comparable-store sales increased 3.1% (traffic up 1.3% and basket size up 1.8%) in the quarter and accelerated to 4.6% (traffic up 2.1% and basket size up 2.5%) in the first month of fiscal 2015, in line with our expectations. Square footage growth was slightly ahead of our expectations, as was new store productivity, which drove top-line outperformance.

Time Warner (TWX) reported a strong third quarter despite a decline in advertising revenue at the Turner segment. Total revenue (excluding the spun-out Time segment) grew 3.4% year over year, led by HBO's 9.9% growth on strong subscription gains internationally and the consolidation of HBO Asia. Shares were off less than 1% at midday.

Tesla Motors (TSLA) reported third-quarter results after close on Nov. 5 that beat consensus estimates. Adjusted diluted EPS came in at $0.02 compared to consensus of a loss of $0.01, while adjusted revenue increased 55% year-over-year to $932.3 million compared to consensus of about $889 million. Model S deliveries, currently the company’s only vehicle, totaled 7,785, about in-line with prior guidance of 7,800 units given in the second-quarter release. Model X crossover deliveries will now not start until the third quarter next year, which is a few months later than last guided. Shares rose over 5% on the report.

Foreign Markets
European shares moved higher after the ECB press conference. In late trading, the FTSE 100, Paris CAC and Germany’s DAX were up 0.2%, 0.5% and 0.7% respectively.

Asian markets were mixed. The Shanghai Composite was up 0.3%, the Hang Seng was down 0.2% while the Nikkei 225 fell 0.9%.