December 2nd
Daily Market Commentary
ECONOMIC NEWS
- The Redbook Index, which measures same-store sales growth in general merchandising stores in the U.S., was reportedly down 0.6% and up 4.8% in month-over-month and year-over-year terms, respectively.
- The Producer Price Index in the Eurozone was reportedly down 0.4% and 1.3% in month-over-month and year-over-year terms, respectively.
- The Construction PMI in Great Britain was reported at 59.4, below estimates of 61.
Commodities:
- Brent crude fell, trimming the biggest rally since October 2012 after the Iraqi government and Kurdish authorities reached a deal on oil exports. West Texas Intermediate slid in New York.
- Gold retreated, after the biggest one-day rally in more than a year, as a stronger dollar curbed demand for the metal as a protection of wealth. Silver and platinum dropped.
- Hedge funds grew more bearish on the outlook for copper, viewed by some analysts as a barometer of the global economy, before prices slumped to a four-year low.
Canada:
- TransCanada Corp. is putting on hold studies for the Cacouna oil export terminal in Quebec as part of its proposed Energy East pipeline project after a nearby beluga whale population was assessed as endangered.
- Bank of Montreal posted fourth-quarter profit that missed analysts’ estimates as a drop in capital markets earnings countered gains in personal and commercial lending. The firm raised its dividend 2.6%.
- Sprott Inc., the Canadian money manager that made its name offering ways to invest in gold, is looking for growth beyond precious metals after prices slumped. Non-resource assets now make up about 60% of the actively managed funds in its Sprott Asset Management LP unit, compared to 27% two years ago. CEO Peter Grosskopf noted that the gap will probably widen further.
United States:
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- U.S. stock-index futures were little changed after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index retreated the most in more than five weeks yesterday.
- Cyber Monday sales growth is slowing as consumers embrace the convenience of online shopping, spreading out their purchases instead of being lured by one-day specials.
- After an almost decade-long fight in federal court, consumer lawyers will ask a jury in Oakland, California, today to find Apple violated antitrust laws by locking customers into iTunes and owes more than $1 billion in damages. Jobs’ role in the company’s strategy will be probed as they show his e-mails and testimony videotaped six months before his death in 2011.
International:
- European stocks rose, as energy shares rebounded from six days of losses, and optimism grew over stimulus prospects before the European Central Bank meets later this week.
- Ecopetrol SA, the worst performing major oil stock in the past six months, said the completion of modernization works at its Cartagena refinery next year will boost earnings that are being eroded by oil’s price plunge.
- U.K. construction grew at the slowest pace in more than a year in November as homebuilding cooled for a fourth month and civil engineering weakened.
- Russia is entering its first recession since 2009 as sanctions over the Ukraine conflict combine with plunging oil prices and the weakening ruble to hammer the economy and force the government to prop up banks.
- Asian stocks rose for the first time in four days as energy shares rebounded from the lowest level in more than five years and China’s markets rallied amid speculation for further easing.
- Singapore’s GIC Pte agreed to buy IndCor Properties Inc. from Blackstone Group LP for $8.1 billion, expanding in the U.S. market for industrial real estate.
- India’s central bank left interest rates unchanged for a fifth straight meeting while signaling a possible easing early next year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government called for lower borrowing costs.
*All information is taken from Bloomberg, unless otherwise noted.