December 8th
Daily Market Commentary
ECONOMIC NEWS
- Housing Starts in Canada were reportedly up 195.6K in year-over-year terms in November, slightly above estimates.
- Building Permits in Canada were reportedly up 0.7% in October in month-over-month terms.
- A Sentix survey of Investor Confidence of the Eurozone was reported at -2.5, above estimates of -10.5.
- Industrial Production in Germany was reportedly up 0.2% in month-over-month terms, slightly below estimates.
Commodities:
- Brent crude slumped to a five-year low as OPEC’s decision last month to maintain output at a time of oversupply prompted a growing number of banks to cut price forecasts. West Texas Intermediate also slumped.
- Gold rose for the first time in three days after speculators boosted bullish bets on the precious metal to a three-month high.
- Hedge funds are betting that the oil-price crash is close to ending. Speculators boosted their net-long position in WTI crude by 14% in the week ended Dec. 2nd, the most in 20 months. Short bets contracted by 15% as long wagers expanded 4%.
Canada:
- BlackBerry Ltd.’s investment in health-care technology has produced its first applications targeted at doctors and nurses who use its smartphones.
- Canadian building permits rose for a second month in October, with gains for industrial projects curbed by a drop in residential work.
- Canada approved Burger King Worldwide’s $11 billion deal to buy Tim Horton’s on Thursday, clearing another hurdle toward the creation of the world’s third-largest fast-food restaurant chain.
United States:
- U.S. stock-index futures declined, after equities climbed to a record last week, as Chinese trade data missed forecasts.
- JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. are among at least five banks urging big clients in the U.S. to park cash elsewhere as new rules make it onerous to hold certain deposits, the Wall Street Journal reported.
- McDonald’s Corp., the world’s largest restaurant chain, posted November same-store sales that trailed analysts’ estimates after efforts to revive growth in the U.S. failed to gain traction.
- The head of China’s internet regulator met with the chief executives of Facebook Inc., Apple, and Amazon during a recent visit to the U.S., according to a government-run website.
International:
- A slump in construction companies sent European stocks down after a four-week rally.
- J Sainsbury Plc rose to a two-week high after the Sunday Telegraph reported that a U.K. activist fund is in discussions with several overseas investors about buying shares in the supermarket chain.
- The Topix index rose a seventh day as the yen held losses after posting its steepest daily decline in a month on U.S. jobs data, outweighing a report that showed Japan’s recession was deeper than expected.
- South Korea’s Hanwha Solar Holdings Co. is merging its U.S.-listed photovoltaic manufacturing affiliate with Hanwha Q Cells Investment Co. in a deal that values the combined company at $2 billion including debt.
- The families of four co-founders of Infosys Ltd. sold about 65 billion rupees ($1 billion) of stock to capitalize on a gain in their price and to fund philanthropy.
- China’s trade surplus climbed to a record in November after an unexpected decline in imports on lower crude oil and other commodity prices.
*All information is taken from Bloomberg, unless otherwise noted.