Mar E-mini S&Ps (ESH17 -0.21%) are down -0.21% and European stocks are down -0.42% as increased French election risks fuel long liquidation is stocks. Apr COMEX gold (GCJ17 +0.14%) is up +0.13% at a 1-week high and government bond prices are higher on increased safe-haven demand as the 10-year German bund yield slid to a 1-week low of 0.299% after French Socialist Party presidential candidate Harmon said he has already talked with far-left candidate Melenchon to discuss a single candidacy. Based on the latest polls, a merger between these two candidates may increase the chance of the likelihood of Le Pen versus Melenchon/Harmon in second round elections. The monthly Ipsos poll shows that show National Front candidate Le Pen ahead with 26% compared with 14.5% for Harmon and only 12% for Melenchon. Weakness in crude oil prices has also weakened energy producing stocks with Mar WTI crude oil (CLH17 -0.43%) down -0.43%. Asian stocks settled mostly lower: Japan -0.58%, Hong Kong -0.31%, China -0.85%, Taiwan -0.12%, Australia -0.18%, Singapore +0.35%, South Korea -0.03%, India +0.59%. A slide in Japanese exporters led the Nikkei Stock Index down to a 1-week low as the stronger yen reduced earnings prospects after USD/JPY dropped to a 1-week low.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.17%) is up +0.27%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.25%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.31% at a 1-week low.

Mar 10-year T-note prices (ZNH17 +0.21%) are up +7.5 ticks.

Key U.S. news today includes: (1) Jan leading indicators (expected +0.5%, Dec +0.5%).

Notable S&P 500 earnings reports today include: Deere (consensus $ 0.55), Moody’s (1.14), Fluor (0.81), Spectra Energy (0.31), VF Corp (0.97), JM Smucker (2.01), Campbell Soup (0.88), Leucadida National (0.23), DENTSPLY STRONA (0.65).

U.S. IPO’s scheduled to price today: none.

Equity conferences: none.

Avis Budget Group (CAR -12.05%) was dowmgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Outperform’ at Credit Suisse with a target price of $ 38.

DaVita (DVA -0.29%) gained almost 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 98 cents, higher than consensus of 90 cents

Arista Networks (ANET -0.50%) rallied 9% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of $ 1.04, better than consensus of 82 cents, and said it sees Q1 revenue of $ 320 million-$ 330 million, above consensus of $ 304.2 million.

Nu Skin Enterprises (NUS +0.25%) slumped 7% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 EPS of 69 cents, below consensus of 80 cents, and said it sees Q1 EPS of 47 cents-51 cents, weaker than consensus of 55 cents.

Brookdale Senior Living (BKD +0.98%) gained 1% in after-hours trading after Dow Jones reported that Ventas was in talks to buy all or part of the company.

WebMD Health (WBMD +0.39%) rose nearly 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 EPS of 73 cents, better than consensus of 67 cents, and said it is exploring strategic alternatives for the company.

Trade Desk (TTD +5.34%) gained over 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 33 cents, above consensus of 22 cents, and said it sees 2017 revenue of $ 270 million, higher than consensus of $ 247.1 million.

Lennox International (LII +5.27%) fell 3% in after-hours trading after it cancelled out of the Barclays conference in Miami next week, citing back surgery to the CFO.

Cohu (COHU +2.02%) jumped 9% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 24 cents, well above consensus of 9 cents.

Impinj (PI -3.10%) dropped 7% in after-hours trading after it said it sees a Q1 adjusted profit of 1 cent to a loss of -6 cents, weaker than consensus for a profit of 2 cents.

Cognex (CGNX +0.70%) rallied over 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 EPS continuing operations of 43 cents, better than consensus of 29 cents.

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions (MDRX -0.08%) lost 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 14 cents, below consensus of 15 cents.

TrueCar (TRUE -0.67%) surged 13% in after-hours trading after it said it sees 2017 revenue of $ 315 million-$ 320 million, higher than consensus of $ 308.6 million.

Airgain (AIRG -4.78%) climbed over 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 EPS of 12 cents, better than consensus of 10 cents.

Flowserve (FLS -0.76%) slid 4% in after-hours trading after it said it sees 2017 adjusted EPS of $ 1.55-$ 1.85, weaker than consensus of $ 2.13.

TimkenSteel (TMST +1.49%) rose 6% in after-hours trading after it said it sees improving sentiment across all markets and expects Q1 shipments to be up +40% q/q.

Cytokinetics (CYTK -1.31%) jumped over 8% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 revenue of $ 33.1 million, double expectations of $ 16.3 million.

Mar E-mini S&Ps (ESH17 -0.21%) this morning are down -5.00 points (-0.21%). Thursday’s closes: S&P 500 -0.09%, Dow Jones +0.04%, Nasdaq -0.03%. The S&P 500 on Thursday closed lower on a continued lack of details from the Trump administration about its tax and fiscal plans, which fueled long liquidation in stocks, and on the jump in the VIX volatility index to a 2-week high, which also boosted long liquidation in equities. Bullish factors included the +4.6% increase in U.S. Jan building permits to 1.285 million (stronger than expectations of +0.2% to 1.23 million and the highest in 14 months) and the unexpected +19.7-point jump in the Feb Philadelphia Fed business outlook survey to 43.3 (stronger than expectations of -5.6 to 18.0 and the highest in 33 years).

Mar 10-year T-notes (ZNH17 +0.21%) this morning are up +7.5 ticks. Thursday’s closes: TYH7 +15.50, FVH7 +9.50. Mar 10-year T-notes on Thursday closed higher on some short-covering after T-note prices failed to break below their 1-3/4 month long consolidation range and on inceased safe-haven demand with the slide in stock prices.

The dollar index (DXY00 +0.17%) this morning is up +0.27 (+0.27%). EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.0027 (-0.25%). USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.35 (-0.31%) at a 1-week low. Thursday’s closes: Dollar index -0.74 (-0.73%), EUR/USD +0.0073 (+0.69%), USD/JPY -0.92 (-0.81%). The dollar index on Thursday closed lower on a lack of specifics from the Trump administration on its tax or fiscal policies, which spurred long liquidation in the dollar, and safe-haven demand for the yen with the weakness in stocks.

Mar WTI crude oil prices (CLH17 -0.43%) this morning are down -23 cents (-0.43%) and Mar gasoline (RBH17 -1.82%) is down -0.0271 (-1,78%) at a 1-week low. Thursday’s closes: Mar crude +0.25 (+0.47%), Mar gasoline -0.0232 (-1.50%). Mar crude oil and gasoline on Thursday settled mixed with Mar gasoline at a 1-week low. Crude oil prices were undercut by negative carry-over from Wednesday’s EIA data that showed excesssive U.S. fuel supplies after EIA crude inventories rose +9.527 million bbl to a record 518.1 million bbl and EIA gasoline supplies rose +2.846 million bbl to a record 259 million bbl.