February 8, 2017
Daily Market Commentary
Economic News:
- European stocks gained ground on Wednesday, adding to the previous session’s rise, following a raft of corporate results from bellwethers including Rio Tinto Plc and Sanofi SA. The basic resources sector index has gained 10 percent so far this year, helped by a sector rotation in favor of industries most sensitive to economic growth.
- Asian shares rose as Chinese property developers jumped on optimism, offsetting declines in India where the government unexpectedly signaled an end to an easing cycle.
- The yen swung between gains and losses on concern Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump will clash over currency issues when they meet later this week while mounting political risks before French elections also spurred demand for safety.
Commodities:
- Metals: Gold: 1237.35 (+$3.50, +0.28%), Silver: 17.74 (+$0.04, +0.20%); Copper: 2.6725 (+1.52%); Aluminum: 0.8356 (+0.62%); Nickel: 4.7664 (+1.47%); Zinc: 1.2791 (+0.90%)
- Energy: Crude: 51.85 (-0.61%); Brent: 54.85 (-0.36%); Nat Gas: 3.07 (-1.82%)
- Oil fell to the lowest in more than two weeks after industry data showed a surge in U.S. crude stockpiles, undermining OPEC’s efforts to re-balance global markets. Government data Wednesday is forecast to show stockpiles climbed for a fifth week. Oil output from the U.S. will surge next year to the highest level since 1970.
- Gold reached a three-month high as investors purchased metal through the biggest exchange-traded fund for a fifth day, the longest buying spree since June.
Canada:
- Canada’s government will provide C$372.5 million ($282 million) in support for Bombardier Inc. to help fund two jet programs including the C Series, the single-aisle plane that competes with Boeing Co. and Airbus Group SE products.
- BlackBerry Ltd. is opening up some of its secure messaging and file sharing technology for developers to use in building apps, creating a new revenue stream for the company as it works to boost sales. The Waterloo, Ontario-based company said the software development kit it’s releasing this month will include tools for building chat apps. BlackBerry joins a crew of companies already offering similar services including Twilio Inc., Bandwidth.com Inc., Nexmo Inc. and Plivo.
- Lumber futures rose by the $10 exchange limit on Monday and touched the highest since March 2014. Canadian shippers are pulling back on U.S. exports and raising prices amid concerns of a looming duty that may be retroactive.
- Barrick Gold Corp.’s plan to sell its stake in the Kalgoorlie Super Pit mine to a Chinese bidder has stalled, as the buyer faces delays securing financing for the $1.3 billion deal
United States:
- Botched testing by a Lockheed Martin Corp. subcontractor on a key component for the U.S.’s newest Global Positioning System satellites raises new questions about the No. 1 defense contractor’s supervision of the project, according to a top Air Force official. The mistake by subcontractor Harris Corp. forced another delay in the delivery of the first of 32 planned GPS III satellites until later this month.
- S. solar-industry employment in 2016 grew at the fastest pace in at least seven years, with growth in all sectors including manufacturing, sales and installations, as demand for clean power swelled.
International:
- India’s central bank unexpectedly left borrowing costs unchanged for a second straight meeting and signaled that its interest-rate easing cycle is coming to an end. The benchmark repurchase rate was left at a six-year low of 6.25 percent, the Reserve Bank of India said in a statement in Mumbai on Wednesday.
- India sold a stake in ITC Ltd., Asia’s second-biggest listed Tobacco Company, to government-owned Life Insurance Corp. of India for about 66.9 billion rupees ($993 million) as it seeks to meet the year’s divestment target, people with knowledge of the matter said.
- Tata Steel Ltd. swung to a profit in the third quarter, the first gain in five quarters, boosted by a recovery in product prices and higher production. The net profit was 2.3 billion rupees ($34 million) in the three months to Dec. 31, from a loss of 27.5 billion rupees a year earlier.
- Thailand’s central bank held its key interest rate near a record low to shield the nation’s economic recovery as the threat of trade protectionism mounts. The one-day bond repurchase rate was left at 1.5 percent, with monetary policy committee members unanimously in favor, the Bank of Thailand said in Bangkok on Wednesday.
- China’s foreign-currency reserves edged just below $3 trillion in January, falling to the lowest since early 2011 after the yuan capped its steepest annual decline in two decades.
- China’s state media offered assurances about foreign-currency reserve levels after a report Tuesday showed the stockpile fell below $3 trillion for the first time in almost six years.
- China’s central bank is holding a closed-door meeting with several domestic bitcoin exchanges on Wednesday, people familiar with the matter said, heightening concerns that regulators will tighten their oversight of trading in digital currencies.
- BP Plc is falling behind its competitors in one crucial measure of its resilience to the biggest oil-industry slump in a generation. The London-based company now needs benchmark Brent crude to rise to $60 a barrel oil this year to be able to fund investments and dividends without having to borrow.
- Statoil ASA is targeting another $1 billion of cost savings this year as Norway’s biggest oil company seeks to turn the page on a market slump that produced a third straight quarterly loss.
*All sources from Bloomberg unless otherwise specified