June 24th, 2015

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • The GDP index for Q1 in the U.S. was -0.1%, or -0.2% annualized.
  • MBA Mortgage Applications in the U.S. were reportedly up 1.6%.
  • BBA Mortgage Approvals in the U.K. were 42.5K, slightly below estimates.

Commodities:

  • Oil extended gains after advancing the most in two weeks as declining U.S. crude stockpiles added to signs a supply glut is easing.
  • Phosphate fertilizer makers are set to gain as a supply surplus in the $35 billion market narrows, reducing the premium investors pay for potash producers, according to VTB Capital.

 

Canada:

  • Mobilicity has accepted an offer from Rogers Communications Inc. and plans to seek court approval of the $465-million sale. (Globe)
  • Sleep Country Canada Holdings Inc., the nation’s largest mattress retailer, is seeking to raise $200-million in an initial public offering, according to regulatory filings. (Globe)
  • The investor group pushing to block Alfa SAB’s takeover of Colombia’s Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. says the structure of a $15 million proposed payout to the oil producer’s chief executive exposes the hypocrisy of the deal.

United States:

  • Netflix Inc. climbed in German trading after declaring a share split, rewarding owners of a stock that has doubled this year to lead the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.
  • Ikea Group, the world’s largest furniture retailer, will raise the hourly minimum wage it pays workers in the U.S. by 10 percent to $11.87, seeking to keep employees from moving to other merchants that have boosted pay recently.

International:

  • European stocks declined after Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said that creditors rejected the Mediterranean nation’s proposals for a debt agreement. U.S. stock-index futures fell.
  • Royal Ahold NV agreed to acquire Delhaize Group for about 9.32 billion euros ($10.4 billion) in shares, creating the fifth-biggest U.S. supermarket retailer in the industry’s biggest transaction for almost a decade.
  • Asian shares gained for a fifth day as Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose to the highest level in 18 years.
  • As Samsung Group’s founding family prepares for a proxy fight next month, South Korea signalled it will defy corporate dynasties that seek to tighten their grip over their businesses at the expense of minority shareholders.
  • A South Korean appeals court upheld a ruling ordering Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. to pay compensation for using forced labor during Japan’s occupation of the Korean peninsula in the first half of the 20th century.

 

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