February 5th, 2015

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • Imports and Exports in Canada were reported at $44.70B and $44.06B, respectively. Both figures were above estimates.
  • The trade balance in the U.S. was reported at -$46.56B, below estimates of -$38B.
  • Initial Jobless claims in the U.S. were reported at 278K, below estimates of 290K.
  • Continuing jobless claims in the U.S. were reported at 2.4M, slightly above estimates of 2.395M.

Commodities:

  • Oil traded below $50 a barrel in New York amid the most price volatility since April 2009 after U.S. crude inventories rose from the highest level in more than three decades.
  • Gold is losing momentum after the best month in three years as investor’s slow deposits to funds backed by the metal.
  • Copper dropped for the first time in five days as the biggest jump in London Metal Exchange inventories in 13 years added to concern about an oversupply.

Canada:

  • Suncor Energy Inc., Canada’s largest oil company, will push ahead with its planned Fort Hills oil sands project even as the price of oil hovers around $50 a barrel.
  • Ontario’s government sold its last remaining General Motors Co. shares acquired during the automaker’s 2009 bailout, saying it would invest the C$1.1 billion ($875 million) of proceeds in an infrastructure fund.

United States

  • U.S. stock-index futures rose, indicating equities will resume gains after Wednesday’s decline.
  • RadioShack Corp. is closing in on an agreement with creditors and other parties that would put the retailer in bankruptcy as soon as Wednesday night or Thursday morning, people with knowledge of the discussions said.
  • Twitter Inc. has struck a deal with Google Inc. to make its 140-character updates more searchable online. In the first half of this year, tweets will start to be visible in Google’s search results as soon as they’re posted, thanks to a deal giving the Web company access to Twitter’s fire hose.
  • Verizon Communications Inc. may sell $10 billion in landline assets as early as this week to Frontier Communications Corp., according to people familiar with the situation.
  • Tesoro Corp., the biggest supplier of gasoline to the western U.S., has emerged as the top-performing energy stock in the past five years after the refiner expanded its business beyond just making fuels.

International:

  • Stocks in Europe fell, halting a three-day advance, as lenders fell and concern rose over negotiations between Greece and the European Central Bank.
  • BNP Paribas SA, said new rules and higher taxes will drag on earnings next year, after profit surged in the final quarter of 2014.
  • BT Group Plc agreed to buy British mobile carrier EE Ltd. for 12.5 billion pounds ($19 billion) to create a wireless and broadband giant set to shake up the country’s telecommunications industry.
  • Vodafone Group Plc, the second-biggest mobile carrier, reported the smallest service revenue decline in 10 quarters as sluggish European markets recovered.
  • Asian stocks fell as investors weighed earnings and the European Central Bank tightened terms of Greece’s bailout. China shares slid after a reserve-ratio cut failed to ease concern the economic slowdown is deepening.
  • McDonald’s Corp.’s Japan affiliate reported its first full-year loss in 11 years as the fast-food chain faced fallout from food scandals and after labour disputes at U.S. ports forced it to ration French fries.
  • Japan Tobacco Inc., Asia’s largest listed cigarette maker, announced a plan to repurchase its shares and forecast annual profit that missed analyst estimates as the plummeting Russian ruble hurt its biggest overseas market.

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