April 30th, 2015

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • Personal Consumption Expenditures in the U.S. were reportedly up 0.2% and 0.3% in month-over-month and year-over-year terms, respectively.
  • Initial Jobless claims in the U.S. were 262L. below estimates of 290K.
  • Continuing jobless claims were 2.253M in the U.S., below estimates of 2.3M
  • Personal Incomes in the U.S. were reportedly flat in March, below estimates of 0.2% growth.
  • The Chicago Purchasing Manager’s Index was 52.3, above estimates of 50.

 

Commodities:

  • Oil headed for the biggest monthly advance since May 2009 as U.S. crude production growth slowed and inventories declined at the nation’s largest storage hub.
  • Oil headed for the biggest monthly advance since May 2009 as U.S. crude production growth slowed and inventories declined at the nation’s largest storage hub.

Canada:

  • Suncor Energy Inc., Canada’s largest oil company, reported a first-quarter loss after crude prices plunged to the lowest since 2009.
  • Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the world’s largest fertilizer producer by market value, cut its full-year earnings forecast on expectations of lower average prices for its namesake crop nutrient.

United States

  • U.S. stock-index futures fell, signalling the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will drop for a second day.
  • New York City construction spending jumped 26 percent last year to $36 billion, led by a record amount of residential building in a market skewed toward luxury housing, according to the New York Building Congress.

International:

  • European stocks declined for a third day, heading for their first monthly drop of the year, as the Federal Reserve left open the prospect of interest-rate increases even amid weak U.S. growth.
  • Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the oil producer buying BG Group Plc for $70 billion, reported first-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates as refining and trading earnings countered part of the drop in crude prices.
  • Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc posted a larger loss than analysts estimated in the first quarter as Britain’s biggest government-owned bank set aside more money for restructuring and currency-manipulation probes.
  • The Swiss National Bank suffered its biggest quarterly loss to date, starting the year with a 30 billion-franc hit ($32 billion) after the franc’s value jumped.
  • Chinese stocks trading in Hong Kong fell for a third day, with raw-material companies sliding before Friday’s manufacturing data and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. slumping after reporting weak profit growth.
  • Sony Corp. forecast annual profit below analysts’ estimates as the maker of PlayStation consoles leaves room for upside in a push to shake off a years-long reputation for disappointing investors.

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