January 16th, 2015

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • The Consumer Price Index in the U.S. was reportedly down 0.4% and up 0.8% in month-over-month and year-over-year terms, respectively.
  • Industrial Production in the U.S. was reportedly down 0.1%, below expectations of flat growth.
  • Capacity utilization in the U.S. was reported at 79.7%, slightly below estimates of 80%.
  • The Consumer Price Index in the Eurozone was reportedly down 0.1% and up 0.7% in month-over-month and year-over-year terms, respectively.

Commodities:

  • Oil advanced in New York, paring an eighth weekly decline, as the International Energy Agency lowered forecasts for supplies from outside OPEC and said prices could recover.
  • Gold futures declined for the first time in six days on speculation that prices advanced too fast to a four-month high.
  • Copper rose for a second day on speculation this week’s plunge to a five-year low was excessive.

Canada:

  • Sony Corp. said on Thursday it will close all 14 of its retail stores in Canada over the next two months as the company tries to turn around its slumping business amid high-profile data breaches and tough competition in the smartphone space. (Globe)
  • Barrick Gold Corp. is further reorganizing its operations, moving two dozen tech jobs to Nevada and getting ready to lay off more staff, according to people familiar with the matter. (Globe)
  • Target Corp.’s decision to liquidate its Canada operations is adding to a winter of harsh news about oil-industry cutbacks in Alberta and raising fresh doubts about the vitality of the world’s 11th largest economy.

United States

  • U.S. stock-index futures also declined as global markets digest currency swings for a second day after the removal of Switzerland’s currency cap.
  • Tiffany & Co.’s plunging shares are bringing a takeover of the $11 billion luxury-jewellery chain back into the realm of possibilities.
  • U.S. regulators imposed a record fine on UBS Group AG’s dark pool for failing to follow rules designed to ensure stock trades are executed fairly. In ordering UBS to pay $14.4 million, including a $12 million fine that exceeds all prior penalties against an alternative trading system.
  • Goldman Sachs, which set a Wall Street record for trading revenue in 2009, posted less than half that amount in 2014, as revenue from the firm’s biggest business fell to the lowest in almost a decade.

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International:

  • European stocks fell from a one-month high, trimming a weekly advance, as a slump in Swiss shares deepened.
  • UBS Group AG, the largest Swiss bank, said its wealthiest clients will be attracted to U.S. dollars after Switzerland roiled markets by scrapping the franc’s cap.
  • Asian stocks fell and equity volatility across the region increased as the Swiss central bank’s unexpected scrapping of its currency cap spurred a flight to haven assets.
  • BP Plc faces a maximum fine of $13.7 billion after a U.S. judge ruled that the company dumped 3.2 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 — about a quarter less than the U.S. had calculated.
  • European car sales in 2014 rose for the first time in seven years as buyers replaced aging vehicles with low-cost models from Renault SA and Volkswagen AG, with the market’s revival from a two-decade low set to continue in 2015.
  • China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd. led property stocks lower in Hong Kong after authorities in the southern city of Shenzhen blocked unit sales by the company and other developers.

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