February 3rd, 2016

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS:

  • The Markit Services PMI in the US was 53.2, slightly below estimates.
  • The ADP Employment Change in the US was 205K, above estimates.
  • Retail Sales in Europe were up 0.3% and 1.4% in month-over-month and year-over-year terms, respectively.

Commodities:

  • Gold held its ground near a three-month high as losses in global equities and oil fanned haven demand and investors reduced expectations of further U.S. rates rises.
  • Oil bulls distressed that last week’s rally fizzled can find some comfort in forecasts for a bigger and longer rebound by the end of the year.

 

Canada:

  • Lowe’s Cos. agreed to buy rival home improvement retailer Rona Inc. for $2.3 billion in cash to expand in Canada.
  • TransCanada Corp. says it has concluded a “major supply agreement” with an international firm that will benefit the Quebec economy. Officials of TransCanada Corp. and the president and CEO of ABB Canada are going to be in Montreal on Wednesday to sign the deal. (Globe)

United States:

  • U.S. stock-index futures were little changed, erasing an earlier oil-driven rally, ahead of a labor report and earnings from more than two dozen members of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.
  • Rio Tinto Group slid to the lowest in almost seven years and BHP Billiton Ltd. slumped as fears about a slowdown in China’s demand and the threat of credit downgrades added to pressure on the mining sector even as metals advanced.
  • Exxon Mobil Corp., one of three U.S. companies with Standard & Poor’s highest rating, is facing its first downgrade in 86 years as the worst crude-market collapse in a generation strangles oil producers of cash.

International:

  • European stocks slid as investors assessed financial results from Novo Nordisk A/S to LVMH amid concern over hurdles to global growth.
  • LVMH shares gained the most in a year after results beat estimates on demand for Louis Vuitton bags in Japan and Europe, providing some relief for a beleaguered luxury-goods industry.
  • Vodacom Group Ltd., the mobile operator with the most subscribers in South Africa, said third-quarter revenue gained 8.7 percent as the company added customers and invested in its high-speed network.
  • Swatch Group AG reported annual profit that missed estimates and analysts questioned whether the Swiss watchmaker can meet 2016’s sales forecast amid vanishing stock market wealth and a slowdown in China.
  • Halliburton Co. and oilfield services rival Baker Hughes Inc. sought extra time for a European Union probe into their merger plans, forcing regulators to push back a deadline for reviewing the tie-up to June 23.
  • Asian stocks fell as the rout in oil and disappointing earnings spurred a global selloff of risk assets amid deepening concern that global growth is weakening.
  • The gap between the Chinese yuan’s exchange rates at home and abroad expanded to the biggest in three weeks, a sign that international traders are reviving bets against the currency after getting burned by the central bank earlier this year.
  • The supplier behind Toyota Motor Corp.’s shutdown of all Japan assembly plants for at least one week withdrew its earnings forecasts, as another one of the carmaker’s group companies warned of a bigger disruption than the nation’s 2011 earthquake.

 

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