June 13th, 2016
Daily Market Commentary
ECONOMIC NEWS
- Retail Sales in China were up 10% in year-over-year terms, slightly below estimates.
- Industrial Production in China was up 6% year-over-year, slightly above estimates.
Commodities
- Crude slid to its lowest in a week in New York after U.S. oil explorers deployed more drilling rigs, signaling that companies may be able to revive output at current prices.
- Gold climbed to the highest level in four weeks as uncertainty mounts over the potential risks if Britain decides to leave the European Union, and as traders price in zero chance of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates at a meeting this week.
- Copper held above a four-month low amid speculation that authorities in top consumer China may do more to bolster the economy and as stockpiles tracked by the biggest metals exchange declined.
Canada:
- Driven by energy and mining industries that leveraged up during the commodity boom, Canadian companies have racked up a record of at least $69.6 billion of high-yield debt, including $61.3 billion of U.S. dollar-denominated bonds, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch data.
United States:
- U.S. stock-index futures mirrored declines in global equities as caution permeated financial markets ahead of political and central-bank events.
- Verizon Communications, AT&T set to go through to third and final round of bidding in auction for Yahoo’s core internet assets, Reuters reports, citing unidentified people familiar.
- Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. said it has terminated its relationship with blood-testing startup Theranos Inc. and will close the company’s testing centers in its stores.
- Microsoft has announced that it is acquiring LinkedIn, the social network for professionals, for $26 billion, or $196 per share, in cash. The transaction has already been approved by both boards. (TechCrunch)
International:
- European stocks slid to a two-month low, tracking a global market slump, as investor anxiety that the U.K. will leave the European Union deepened.
- With just 10 days before a referendum that could see Britain withdraw from the European Union, central bankers are putting the defenses in place to shore up market confidence and the financial system if that happens. Tuesday will see the first test of its work, with the start of a series of extra market operations to boost liquidity around the vote.
- Air France expects 27% of its pilots to be on strike Tuesday, co. writes in e-mailed statement. Co. expects to operate 85% of its long-haul flight schedule, 80% of domestic flights, 75% of medium-haul flights.
- Stocks sank from Japan to China, with Asia’s benchmark index poised for its biggest decline since April, as uncertainty ahead of central bank meetings and a vote on the U.K. leaving the European Union boosted demand for haven assets.
- Line Corp., the Japanese messaging service that’s planning this year’s biggest tech IPO, was born in the aftermath of the massive earthquake and tsunami that shook Japan in March 2011.
- China’s crude production dropped by the most in 15 years in another sign that OPEC’s strategy of flooding markets to drive out higher-cost suppliers is working in the world’s biggest energy consumer.
*All information is taken from Bloomberg, unless otherwise noted.
