January, 4th 2017

Daily Market Commentary

 

 

Economic News:

 

  • U.S. stocks rose Tuesday for Wall Street’s first session of the New Year, helped by a string of robust economic data from China and Europe that sent all but one industry higher on the day.
  • Europe’s Stoxx 600 falls 0.1% as of 9:18 a.m. in London, with the retail and autos sectors underperforming while banks adding to their recent sharp gains.
  • Asian equities rose after a strong set of economic data boosted optimism in the U.S. economy and as the Japanese market soared in its first trading day of 2017.
  • Euro-area inflation accelerated in December at the fastest pace since 2013, suggesting that a debate about the appropriate degree of European Central Bank stimulus is about to gather momentum.

 

Commodities:

 

  • Metals: Gold: 1165.21 (+$6.37, +0.55%), Silver: 16.42 (+$0.13, +0.78%); Copper: 2.5075 (+0.74%); Aluminum: 0.7653 (+0.03%); Nickel: 4.5442 (+1.10%); Zinc: 1.1601 (+1.45%)
  • Energy: Crude: 52.55 (+0.42%); Brent: 55.65 (+0.32%); Nat Gas: 3.31 (-0.51%)
  • Oil rose amid estimates that U.S. crude stockpiles declined, adding to signs that global crude markets are tightening as OPEC implements an agreement to cut production.
  • Gold rises for sixth time in seven days to trade near a 3-week high as Chinese demand seen increasing before Lunar New Year at end-Jan.
  • Natural gas prices may have faltered in the first trading day of the year, but some analysts are still bullish on the outlook for 2017. With demand for the power-plant fuel surpassing coal for the first time in the U.S. and exports soaring, a years-long glut from shale formations has finally been erased.

 

Canada:

 

  • Canadian stocks rose for the third time in four sessions, building on the best annual rally since 2009, as energy companies and commodity producers led gains and oil prices headed for the highest close in 18 months.

 

 

United States:

 

  • The Federal Reserve is scheduled to release the minutes from its December meeting at 2 pm ET. That’s the meeting where the Fed raised interest rates for only the second time in a decade. (CNN Money)
  • Tesla misses on delivery forecast due to production delays
  • Rumors swirl that Google is considering the purchase of SoundCloud, a worldwide Music Business, which will only help solidify its stronghold on the industry.
  • Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. have formed a consortium with four medium-size automakers to speed development of auto-industry standards for in-vehicle apps, a step toward preventing Apple Inc. and Google from controlling how drivers connect smartphones to their cars and trucks.
  • Rex Tillerson, former Exxon Mobil Corp. chief executive and President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for U.S. secretary of state, will relinquish control of about $240 million in company shares if confirmed as he severs ties to comply with conflict-of-interest requirements.

 

 

International:

 

  • K. consumers borrowed at the fastest pace in more than 11 years in November, a sign that households continued their spending spree in the wake of last year’s Brexit vote.
  • Chinese investors traded a record volume of commodity futures last year as speculators poured in and out of the market on bets that shortages are looming. Combined aggregate trading volume on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, Dalian Commodity Exchange and Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange jumped 27 percent from 2015 levels to 4.1 billion contracts
  • Oil trader Gunvor Group is suing Cerberus Capital Management alleging that the private equity firm is refusing to pay its share of costs incurred when the two companies made a failed $650 million bid for Chevron Corp. assets in South Africa.
  • Mastercard Inc. was given a week to come up with a proposal to allay competition concerns by U.K. regulators over its planned acquisition of a controlling stake in VocaLink Holdings Ltd. Mastercard in July said it would pay about 700 million pounds ($860 million) for 92.4 percent of London-based VocaLink, the payments processor that handles most payroll and household bill processing in the U.K.
  • Indians have deposited nearly all the currency bills outlawed at the end of the deadline last year, according to people with knowledge of the matter, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s drive to unearth unaccounted wealth and fight corruption. Banks have received 14.97 trillion rupees ($220 billion) as of Dec. 30, the deadline for handing in the old bank notes.

 

 

*All sources from Bloomberg unless otherwise specified