December 9th, 2015

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • MBA Mortgage Applications in the US were up 1.2%.
  • The Producer Price Index in China was down 5.9% in year over year terms.
  • Machine Tool orders in Japan were down 17.9% in year-over-year terms.

Commodities:

  • Oil halted its decline near the lowest price in more than six years before weekly U.S. crude inventory and production data.
  • Gold climbed for a second day as investors priced in a U.S. interest-rate rise this month and weighed the pace of increases next year.

 

Canada:

  • Bond investors are testing Stephen Poloz’s optimism that the Canadian economy is heading for recovery. Odds that the Bank of Canada will cut its benchmark interest rate by May jumped to 25 percent Tuesday from 6.2 percent Monday as a deepening commodity rout weighs on the outlook for the resource-heavy economy.
  • McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada Ltd. is launching on Wednesday its first standalone McCafé in a bustling concourse at Toronto’s Union Station, betting on luring younger consumers with a wider offering of healthier-sounding products, an all-day breakfast and no hamburgers and fries. (Globe)

United States:

  • U.S. index futures erased earlier gains as equities across the world extended declines on global growth concerns.
  • Dow Chemical Co. is in late-stage talks to merge with DuPont Co. in what would be the largest deal in the chemicals industry, people with knowledge of the matter said.
  • United Natural Foods Inc., a distributor of organic food toWhole Foods Market and other grocery chains, suffered its worst stock decline in almost five months after cutting its annual profit and sales forecast.
  • Apple Inc. has suspended plans to offer a live Internet-based television service and is instead focusing on being a platform for media companies to sell directly to customers through its App Store, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

International:

  • European stocks slid, reversing earlier gains, as commodity producers extended their lowest level in six years.
  • Volkswagen AG rose the most in almost two weeks after a report that the carmaker has drastically lowered its estimate for the number of vehicles affected by a probe into irregular carbon-dioxide emissions.
  • Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd. is taking aim at Rolls-Royce as well as luxury brand Hermes as the sports-car maker positions itself for a possible initial public offering.
  • Asian stocks fell to the lowest level in two months, led by declines among health-care and consumer companies, with Japanese equities bearing the brunt of losses. A slump in energy shares stabilized as crude prices rebounded.
  • The fortune of Chinese billionaire Pan Sutong surged almost 60 percent Tuesday when Goldin Financial Holdings Ltd. jumped the most in more than six years and sister company Goldin Properties Holdings Ltd. soared on news he might bring the property business private.

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