July 11th 2014

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • The Canadian unemployment rate was reported at 7.1%, slightly above estimates of 7%.
  • The net change in employment in Canada was reported at -9.4K, far below estimates of a 20K gain.
  • The participation rate in Canada was reported in line with estimates at 66.1%.

Commodities:

  • West Texas Intermediate headed for a third weekly drop as supply risks ease in Iraq and Libya while crude inventories expand where U.S. crude is stored. Brent declined in London.
  • Gold traded near the highest in almost four months, heading for the longest run of weekly gains since March, as concerns about Europe’s economy and the Middle East boosted haven demand. Palladium was near a 13-year high.
  • CME Group Inc. and Thomson Reuters Corp. will run the replacement for the 117-year-old silver-fixing benchmark that’s ending in August, the London Bullion Market Association said.
  • World grain prices probably will decline in the next year or two before stabilizing as farmers boost production at a faster rate than demand rises, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the United Nations said.

Canada:

  • Enbridge Inc. is turning its eyes north to Alaska, entering talks with the state to build an $8-billion (U.S.) natural gas pipeline there if a competing project falters. It would carry natural gas from the North Slope to Fairbanks and other communities in southern Alaska, the pipeline could begin service in 2020. (Globe)
  • Cogeco Cable posted a decline in profits in its fiscal third quarter, due to an impairment charge related to an abandoned project. It said revenue and adjusted EBITDA increased.

United States:

  • U.S. stock-index futures advanced, indicating the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will trim a weekly decline, as investors awaited earnings reports.
  • Reynolds American Inc., the producer of Camel cigarettes, is closing in on a purchase of Lorillard Inc. and may announce a deal as soon as next week with the blessing of British American Tobacco Plc.
  • Wells Fargo, the world’s most valuable bank, said profit increased 3.8% on lower credit costs even as the lender’s per-share earnings failed to top the preceding quarter’s for the first time since 2009.

International:

  • European stocks rose, rebounding from a five-day slump, as takeover activity increased and investors bet the financial troubles of Banco Espirito Santo SA won’t spiral into an euro-area banking crisis.
  • Shire Plc, the drugmaker targeted by AbbVie Inc. in a $51.5 billion takeover offer, is hearing from top shareholders pushing the company to come to the table and work out a deal. Urging them behind the scenes is AbbVie.
  • Asian stocks fell, with the regional benchmark index on course to snap its longest streak of weekly gains in more than two years, as concern about financial risks in Europe spurred a rally in the yen.
  • China’s state-owned national television broadcaster said a feature of Apple Inc.’s iPhone software that tracks user locations poses a security concern.