April 8th, 2015

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • MBA Mortgage Applications in the U.S. were reported at 0.4%.
  • Retail Sales in the Eurozone were reportedly down 0.2% and up 3%.

Commodities:

  • Gold traded near the highest in seven weeks as investors waited for the Federal Reserve to release minutes from its March meeting.
  • Oil prices could tumble $15 a barrel next year if sanctions are lifted following a final nuclear deal with Iran, according to the Energy Information Administration.
  • Most industrial metals fell after the International Monetary Fund forecast sustained weakness in global economic growth, signalling that demand will wane.

Canada:

  • DBS, Manulife Form 15-Yr Life Bancassurance Partnership. Under the deal, Manulife to pay DBS of $1.2b, which Manulife intends to fund with internal resources.
  • A restructuring that would hand Brookfield Asset Management Inc. control of Canada’s largest manufacturer of concrete building materials is poised to wipe out junior creditors who lent C$190 million ($152 million) to the company
  • Royal Dutch Shell agreed to buy smaller rival BG Group for $70 billion in the first oil super-merger in more than a decade to close the gap with the world’s largest oil firm U.S. Exxon Mobil. (Globe)

United States

  • U.S. stock-index futures rose before the Federal Reserve releases the minutes of its March meeting and as Alcoa Inc. unofficially kicks off earnings season.
  • Google Inc. lost most of a challenge to a German regulator’s order that limits how it can combine user data that would allow the company to divine customers’ personal preferences, marital status and sexual orientation.

International:

  • A surge in energy producers pushed European stocks above a record close.
  • Royal Dutch Shell Plc is seeking an outlet for its natural gas reserves in Australia’s Queensland state. Its $70 billion purchase of BG Group Plc provides a solution.
  • German factory orders unexpectedly fell for a second month in February in a sign Europe’s largest economy is still prone to risks.
  • Asian stocks rose, with the regional benchmark index heading for its highest close in more than six years, after Chinese shares listed in Hong Kong rallied.
  • McDonald’s Japan March Same-Store Sales Fall 29.3% Y/y.
  • China stands to collect billions of dollars in taxes as Alibaba insiders unload shares held under lock-and-key since the tech firm’s record breaking market debut last year. (CNN).

*All information is taken from Bloomberg, unless otherwise noted.