March 17th, 2015

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • Manufacturing Shipments in Canada were reportedly down 1.7% in month-over-month terms, exceeding an estimated drop of 1.2%.
  • The Redbook Index, which measures same-store sales growth of general merchandise stores in the U.S., was reportedly up 1% and 2.7% in month-over-month and year-over-year terms, respectively.
  • Housing starts in the U.S. were reportedly up 0.897M, below estimates of over 1 million.
  • Building permits in the U.S. were reportedly up 1.092M, slightly above estimates.
  • The consumer price index in the Eurozone was reportedly up 0.6% and down 0.3% in month-over-month and year-over-year terms, respectively.
  • A survey of economic sentiment in the Eurozone was reported at 62.4, above estimates of 58.9.

Commodities:

  • Oil traded near the lowest price in six years before U.S. government data forecast to show that crude inventories in the world’s biggest consumer extended a record high.
  • Gold held near a three-month low as investors weighed the outlook for higher U.S. interest rates. Platinum extended losses to the lowest level since 2009.
  • Copper declined for a second day as oil traded near a six-year low and as the Federal Reserve begins a two-day policy meeting.

 

Canada:

  • Amazon.com Inc. is moving into one of Toronto’s newest skyscrapers, taking enough office space for 800 employees, as Canada’s largest city lures big technology firms.
  • Bank of Montreal to announce early Tuesday that it is lowering its five-year, fixed-rate mortgage from 2.99% to 2.79%, WSJ reports, citing a spokesman.
  • BlackBerry unveiled a new high-security tablet on the weekend as part of its efforts to win more business from corporate and government customers. The new device, developed with Samsung and IBM, should be available as early as this summer, and will sell for about $2,380, the company said.

United States

  • U.S. stock-index futures retreated before the Federal Reserve meets today after equities posted the biggest rally in more than a month.
  • American Airlines Group Inc. will be added to the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, joining the benchmark gauge for U.S. equities in another sign of the comeback for the once-troubled U.S. industry.
  • General Electric agreed to sell the consumer-lending business of GE Capital in Australia and New Zealand to an investor group including KKR Co. and Deutsche Bank AG in a deal with an enterprise value, including debt, of about $6.26B.
  • Tesla Motors will unveil on Thursday an update to its Model S that will address its all-electric range in some form, the company’s CEO said Sunday in a tweet.

International:

  • European stocks declined as a measure of German investor confidence missed forecasts.
  • Greece will begin debating measures to boost liquidity as the cash-starved country braces for more than 2 billion euros ($2.12 billion) in debt payments Friday.
  • European car sales rose at the fastest rate in 11 months as a strengthening economy, lower fuel prices and dealer discounts encouraged purchases of vehicles made by the likes of Volkswagen AG and BMW AG.
  • Deutsche Lufthansa AG faces its 12th strike by pilots over retirement benefits in a conflict that has hurt earnings at Europe’s second-largest airline.
  • Asian stocks rose, after a rebound in U.S. equities, as weak economic data eased speculation the Federal Reserve will bring forward plans to raise interest rates.
  • Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s finance arm plans to use a partnership structure to allow top management to maintain control of the company’s board after an initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter.
  • Nintendo Co. dropped its resistance to using its characters on mobile devices as the maker of Mario and Zelda teams with DeNA Co. to develop new games for smartphones and tablet computers.
  • Sony Corp. said third-quarter net income more than tripled on demand for image sensors and consoles as the company reported final earnings affected by last year’s hacking of its Hollywood studio.

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