December 4th, 2015

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • The Purchasing Manager’s Index in Canada was reported at 57.9 for November.
  • The unemployment rate in the US was quoted at 5%, in line with estimates.
  • The US participation rate was 62.5%.
  • Nonfarm payrolls in the US were 211K, above estimates of 200K.
  • Average weekly hours worked in the US were 34.5, in line with estimates.

Commodities:

  • Oil headed for its fourth decline in five weeks as Iran signalled it doesn’t expect the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to do anything to its production ceiling at a meeting in Vienna on Friday.
  • Gold headed for the first weekly gain since October as investors awaited the U.S. jobs report, the most-watched piece of data before the Federal Reserve’s meeting later this month.

 

Canada:

  • Suncor Energy Inc. has extended its hostile $4.3-billion takeover bid for Canadian Oil Sands Ltd., giving new hope to investors holding out for a richer offer. Suncor said the all-stock bid for Canadian Oil Sands, its partner in the Syncrude Canada Ltd. joint venture, now expires on Jan. 8. It had previously been slated to expire on Friday. (Globe)
  • Canada’s six-biggest banks eliminated 4,664 jobs in the fiscal fourth quarter, the biggest quarterly reduction in six years, amid efforts to cut costs and adapt to digital banking.
  • Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest producer of the metal, extended a $4 billion revolver loan by a year and negotiated a covenant change.
  • One eastern Canadian refiner began receiving crude oil via Enbridge Inc.’s newly reversed Line 9B Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter.

United States:

  • A gain in U.S. stock-index futures signalled the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will recover from its biggest drop in two months, as investors’ focus shifts to the most-watched economic report before the Federal Reserve meets later this month.

International:

  • European and Asian stocks extended losses, following their biggest slide since August, as disappointment with European Central Bank stimulus measures lingered.
  • European Commission says it’s decided not to transfer probe of Hutchison/O2 deal to the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority.
  • The British government said it plans to continue selling Lloyds Banking Group Plc shares to institutional investors over the coming months, extending a trading plan to mid-2016.
  • UBS Group AG is seeking to buy back about 16 billion francs ($16.1 billion) of bonds, including some that will no longer count toward its capital after new Swiss rules come into effect in 2019.
  • South Korea’s financial regulator is investigating allegations of insider trading by officials at Samsung Group before the merger of two key affiliates by the country’s biggest conglomerate.

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