February 27th, 2017

Daily Market Commentary

 

 

 

Economic News:

  • Pending Home Sales in the US were down 2.8% and up 0.4% in month-over-month and year-over-year terms, respectively.
  • Durable goods orders in the US were up 1.8% in January, above expectations; however, they fell 0.2% excluding transports, a figure which was below estimates.

Canada:

  • Canadian stocksĀ plunged the most in five months as earnings and dividend disappointments among gold companies, along with weakening oil prices and trepidation over President Donald Trumpā€™s border tax proposals, erased two-thirds of this yearā€™s rally.

United States:

  • U.S. stock-index futures were little changed, after benchmarks reached record highs, as investors awaited a speech tomorrow by U.S. President Donald Trump thatā€™s expected to provide more details on his policy-making. The S&P 500 added 0.2 percent to its highest ever on Friday amid gains in utilities and phone stocks, and the Dow advanced for an 11th day in its longest rally since January 1992.
  • General Motors Co.Ā boosted incentives on its pickup models this month after its biggest foes gained ground, intensifying a price war within the U.S. auto marketā€™s most hotly contested segment. Incentives on GMā€™s models surged 56 percent and 82 percent, respectively, from a year earlier asĀ Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NVandĀ Ford Motor Co.Ā dialed back their spending, according to the researcher.
  • AT&T Inc., the second-largest U.S. mobile carrier, is accelerating the roll out of its 5G wireless networks, amid an effort to drive sales and subscriber growth by cross-selling bundles that include a combination of wireless and video services.

International:

  • European stocks steadied after a selloff that pushed them to a two-week low, while worries about French political risks eased following weekend polls. The benchmark dropped on Friday led by a sharp pullback in banks, miners and carmakers as investors questioned whether a rally that pushed equities to a 14-month high had gone too far.
  • Blackstone Group LPĀ and Prudential Plc were picked as preferred bidders for about 12.5 billion pounds ($16 billion) of U.K. mortgages made by failed lenderĀ Bradford & Bingley, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
  • TheĀ poundĀ fell against all its major peers after The Times reported that U.K. Prime Minister Theresa Mayā€™s team is preparing for Scotland to potentially call for an independence referendum.
  • Deutsche Boerse AGā€™sĀ $13 billion bid forĀ London Stock Exchange Group PlcĀ headed toward collapse after the U.K. market operator rejected demands by European regulators to sell one of its holdings. LSE said it couldnā€™t commit to sell its stake in MTS, an electronic trading platform for government bonds, and declined to submit a counter proposal after European Union officials made divesting the unit a condition for approval.
  • The biggest equity rally in Asia this year has yet to captivate global investors. TheĀ MSCI China Index, which is dominated by Hong Kong-traded Chinese shares, has surged 11 percent since Dec. 31, its best start to any year since 2012. Thatā€™s been fueled byĀ $9 billion of inflows through cross-border trading links as mainland investors seek to diversify from yuan-denominated assets.
  • China, the worldā€™s biggestĀ goldĀ consumer, imported the least amount of bullion in a year from Hong Kong in January as higher prices deterred buyers and the month was shortened by the Lunar New Year holiday.
  • Korean Air Lines Co.Ā is in talks withĀ Delta Air Lines Inc. for a joint venture in a move that would give the second-largest U.S. carrier a bigger foothold in Asia where rising incomes are fueling a boom in air travel.

 

*All sources from Bloomberg unless otherwise specified