Equity index futures trade in the red in.....>

STOCKS: Equity index futures trade in the red in early Asia and have now

virtually unwound all of Wednesday's solid gains, after month end imbalances

helped them lower during the final NY session of April. The major e-mini

contracts do operate off of their early lows against a thinner liquidity

backdrop owing to the aforementioned regional holidays, with Amazon & Apple

earnings in focus in the wake of their afterhours reports. For Amazon, weaker

than expected adj. earnings and pledges re: profit usage outweighed the revenue

beat, with sell-side estimates for revenue guidance for Q2 pretty much bang on

the money vs. company exp. For Apple, the lack of guidance will cause some

concern, although isn't particularly shocking given the current backdrop. Both

iPhone & iPad revenues missed exp, although overall revenues and adjusted EPS

both topped exp.

- April saw the S&P 500 register a 12.7% monthly gain, its best monthly showing

since '87, while the DJIA added ~11% and the NASDAQ added over 15% over the same

horizon.