May 26th, 2015

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • Housing Prices in the U.S. were up 0.3% in month-over-month terms, below estimates.
  • The Case-Shiller Home Price Indices were up 5% in year-over-year terms, above estimates.
  • Durable Goods orders in the U.S. were down 0.5% and up 0.5% in absolute terms and excluding transportation, respectively.

Commodities:

  • Oil declined as investors weighed a stronger dollar against flaring Middle East violence.
  • Gold and silver dropped to the lowest in almost two weeks amid speculation the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this year. Platinum and palladium also declined.
  • Nickel fell to the lowest price in more than a month as wrangling over Greece’s debt crisis intensified and the dollar strengthened.

Canada:

  • Premium Brands Holdings Corp.’s sales of grab-and-go breakfast sandwiches and wraps for Starbucks Corp. are helping make it North America’s fastest-growing packaged-food supplier.
  • Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. reduced production from its Kirby South oil-sands operation in Alberta, raising the amount of production brought offline because of a nearby forest fire to 233,000 barrels a day.
  • Mexico approved 19 companies and seven groups to bid on 14 shallow-water exploration blocks as the country prepares to allow private producers to drill in its waters for the first time since 1938. Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., and Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp., were among the companies that Mexico’s oil regulator.

United States

  • U.S. stock-index futures declined, indicating equities will fall for a second day as the market reopens after a holiday.
  • Charter Communications Inc. agreed to buy Time Warner Cable Inc. for about $55 billion in cash and stock, snapping up the cable provider after getting last-minute competition from French billionaire Patrick Drahi.

International:

 

  • European stocks fluctuated as investors weighed the prospects for higher U.S. rates this year, while Ryanair Holdings Plc rose. Some markets reopened after holidays.
  • Nestle SA’s plan to bottle Oregon’s spring water is stoking a fight with lawmakers and environmental activists who say a corporation shouldn’t be allowed to profit from a natural resource as drought spreads across the state.
  • Greek officials will revive their bid to access financial aid with Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis blaming creditors’ insistence on more austerity for the impasse.
  • Vodafone Group Plc is weighing an initial public offering for its Indian business, the wireless carrier’s biggest unit by customers, said a person familiar with the matter.
  • UBS Group AG is shutting its Australian wealth-management unit amid competition from local brokerages.
  • Most Asian stocks rose, with indexes in Japan and China closing at the highest in more than seven years.

 

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