February 10th, 2016

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS:

  • The MBA Mortgage Applications in the US were up 9.3%.
  • The Industrial Production in the UK was down 1.1% and 0.4% in month-over-month and year-over-year terms, respectively.

 

Commodities:

  • Oil rose from the lowest settlement in almost three weeks amid signs that increases in U.S. crude inventories are slowing.
  • Gold’s rally is stumbling as demand slows during China’s Lunar New Year and analysts say prices have run up too quickly.

Canada:

  • Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. agreed to acquire The Empire District Electric Co. for $1.49 billion, in the second purchase of a U.S. utility by a Canadian company on Tuesday.
  • Husky Energy Inc., the oil and natural gas producer controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing, has made another round of jobs cuts with the crude market slump exceeding 19 months.

United States:

  • A rally in oil helped trim losses for U.S. stock futures, signalling a pause in a rout that has dragged the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to the lowest in 22 months.
  • American International Group Inc. plans to exit at least half the hedge funds in which the insurer is invested, according to people familiar with the company’s portfolio.
  • Sanofi said profit won’t grow much this year, held back by sliding sales of its best-selling medicine, the insulin Lantus. The stock fell to its lowest level in two years.
  • S. stock futures advanced to mirror gains in European shares and oil prices, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will rebound from its lowest level since 2014.

International:

  • A surge in banks helped European stocks rebound from their lowest level since October 2013 as investor concern over the creditworthiness of lenders eased.
  • Statoil ASA’s investment cuts in response to the crude-price rout have sent shock waves through Norway’s oil industry, but it’s the company’s international operations that are paying the bigger price.
  • Deutsche Bank AG shares jumped the most in almost seven years and credit risk fell as Germany’s biggest bank considers a bond buyback to help ease investor concerns about its funds, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
  • The European Union is investigating possible manipulation of agency-bond trading, joining agencies in the U.S. and U.K. already looking into the $9 trillion market, according to a person familiar with the matter.
  • Bank of England Governor Mark Carney’s insistence that the next move in U.K. interest rates will likely be up looks increasingly doubtful to investors, judging from money markets that are signaling he may even be forced to reduce borrowing costs this year.
  • Japanese stocks plunged for a second day as investors rushed to the safety of the yen while concerns that margin calls were triggering automatic selling of shares also weighed on sentiment.
  • Nissan Motor Co. reported profit that beat analyst estimates as the Rogue crossover drove increased demand in the U.S., the Japanese automaker’s biggest market.

 

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