September 22nd, 2015

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • The Redbook Index, which measures same-store sales growth in U.S. general merchandising companies, was reportedly down 1.4% and up 0.9% in month-over-month and year-over-year terms, respectively.
  • The U.S. Housing Price Index was up 0.6% in month-over-month terms, above expectations.

Commodities:

  • Oil fell in New York as Iran made progress on an accord to lift sanctions on its exports, threatening to add to the surplus in global markets.

Canada:

  • AltaGas Ltd. became the second Canadian utility owner in less than three weeks to plan a purchase of power assets in the U.S., where analysts say there are more buying opportunities because plants are numerous and contracts offer stable returns. The Calgary-based company said Monday it agreed to buy GWF Energy Holdings LLC.

United States:

  • Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell, mirroring equities in Europe, as markets struggled to digest conflicting signals from the Federal Reserve.
  • U.S. antitrust officials investigating whether the nation’s four largest airlines colluded on pricing are looking at executives’ communications — not only with each other, but also with their biggest shareholders. The Justice Department’s antitrust division has asked the carriers — American Airlines Group Inc., United Continental Holdings Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc. and Southwest Airlines Co.– for details about meetings with their major shareholders in which “industry capacity” was discussed, according to an official information request reviewed by Bloomberg News.

 

International:

  • Miners and automakers dragged European stocks lower, as commodity prices slid and Volkswagen AG extended losses, with investors also concerned about the global growth outlook.
  • Volkswagen AG’s top U.S. executive was profusely apologetic for the diesel-emissions cheating scandal that emerged on Friday and vowed to win back the trust of the U.S. consumer. Volkswagen AG plans to set aside 6.5 billion euros ($7.3 billion) in the third quarter to cover the costs of addressing irregularities in diesel engines installed in 11 million vehicles worldwide, as the scandal that started in the U.S. widens.
  • Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will need to enact banking-sector reforms to unlock 3 billion euros ($3.4 billion) in bailout funds set aside for Europe’s most indebted nation, according to Thomas Wieser, head of the Euro Working Group.
  • Plunging turnover and the world’s wildest price swings mean that China’s stock market just keeps getting uglier for investors.
  • China’s economy is slowing and stocks are crashing. The Federal Reserve is poised to raise rates, and Hong Kong’s de-facto central bank is warning about “uncertainty” in the city’s all-important housing market, where transactions plunged last month.

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