February 17, 2017

Daily Market Commentary

 

 

 

Economic News:

  • Foreign portfolio investment in Canadian Securities was quoted at $10.23B, below estimates.
  • The Baker Hughes US Oil Rig Count was quoted at 597, up 6 from the last report
  • Retail Sales in the UK was down 0.3% and up 1.5% in month-over-month and year-over-year terms, respectively.

Canada:

  • The Province of Alberta plans to return to the U.K. bond market after it placed debt denominated in the pound for the first time on Thursday. The Canadian province sold 650 million pounds ($811.9 million) of senior unsecured bonds maturing in November 2021 at 58 basis points above similar-maturity U.K. Treasuries.
  • Air Canada today reported record full year 2016 EBITDAR,  excluding special items, of $2.768 billion, compared to the previous record of $2.542 billion recorded in 2015, an increase of $226 million or 8.9 per cent and surpassing the 6 to 8 per cent increase projected in its November 7, 2016 news release.
  • After months of negotiations with its partners, Sherritt International Corp. is still considering a complete exit from its costly joint venture in Madagascar as it struggles to reduce its huge debt burden. The Toronto-based company owns 40 per cent of the Ambatovy nickel and cobalt mine in Madagascar, which cost more than $5-billion (U.S.) to develop. Last year, it announced a $1.6-billion (Canadian) writedown of the value of its stake in the mine, where it is also the operator. (Globe and Mail)

United States:

  • U.S. stock-index futures were down on Friday, signaling potential losses on Wall Street, with shares in resource-related companies in focus as oil and base metal prices dropped.
  • Pacific Investment Management Co. had about $5 billion in third-party inflows last month, almost as much as in the entire fourth quarter, suggesting the turnaround at the bond manager owned by Allianz SE is gathering steam.
  • Deere & Co., the world’s largest agricultural-equipment maker, raised its full-year profit and sales forecasts after reducing operating costs. Net income will be about $1.5 billion in the year through October, Deere said Friday in a statement, up from a previous forecast of $1.4 billion.

International:

  • European stocks headed for their worst drop in almost two weeks, as commodity firms tracked declines in oil and metal prices. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.4 percent at 9:28 a.m. in London. Miners slid for a second day, after reaching their highest level since 2014 on Wednesday.
  • Unilever shares head for biggest gain since Sept. 2 after the FT’s Alphaville blog reported a potential approach from Kraft Heinz, with private equity firm 3G and Warren Buffett said to be involved on the financing side.
  • Chinese stocks in Hong Kong fell, trimming their second weekly advance, as banks snapped a winning streak that sent momentum indicators to multi-year highs.
  • Samsung Group’s Jay Y. Lee was formally arrested on allegations of bribery, perjury and embezzlement, an extraordinary step that jeopardizes the executive’s ascent to the top role at the world’s biggest smartphone maker. The Seoul Central District Court issued the warrant for Lee’s arrest early Friday.

 

 

*All sources from Bloomberg unless otherwise specified