March 20th, 2015

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • The Consumer Price index in Canada was reportedly up 0.9% and 1% in month-over-month and year-over-year terms, respectively.
  • Retail sales in Canada were reportedly down 1.7%, a larger drop than anticipated.

Commodities:

  • Gold headed for the first weekly climb since February, extending a rebound from a three-month low, after the Federal Reserve signalled a slower pace of U.S. interest rate increases.
  • Oil traded near the lowest price in six years, heading for a fifth weekly decline amid signs that the global supply glut is worsening.
  • Copper traded near the highest level in a week as Freeport-McMoRan Inc.’s Grasberg mine in Indonesia, the world’s second largest for the metal by capacity, remained shut for a fifth day.

Canada:

  • Canada’s communications regulator will require cable companies to let customers choose the channels they want, one of the first countries in the world to mandate so-called a la carte pay-TV.
  • Canadians’ interest in traveling to the U.S. is waning along with the strength of the country’s currency. The number of trips to the U.S. fell to the lowest in more than four years in January, down 3.2 percent for the month to 4.16 million, Statistics Canada said today in a report.

United States

  • U.S. stock-index futures rose, indicating equities may advance, pushing the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index towards its biggest weekly gain in five.
  • Nike Inc. posted third-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates, helped by demand for athletic footwear in North America.
  • Amazon.com Inc.’s effort to expand its research into the viability of delivery drones got a boost from U.S. regulators who granted the company permission to conduct test flights.

International:

  • European stocks were little changed near their highest level since 2000, poised for a seventh straight weekly gain.
  • Credit Suisse Group AG is among defendants facing a 3 billion-euro ($3.2 billion) suit in Italy while prosecutors probe the lender in a separate case, a sign litigation risks aren’t abating after the bank was fined for aiding tax evasion in the U.S. last year.
  • Asian stocks rose to a six-month high, with the regional index on course for its best weekly advance in two months, as financial shares led gains.
  • Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan to attract private investment in mining of minerals received parliamentary approval, his second key legislative win in as many weeks.
  • Tata Steel Ltd., which mines most of its own coal to produce the alloy in India, will consider selling the fuel in the open market should the government pass a law that’ll end Coal India Ltd.’s monopoly.

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