June 26th, 2014

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • Initial Jobless Claims in the U.S. were reported at 312K, above estimates of 310K.
  • Personal Consumption Expenditures in the U.S. were reportedly up 0.2% and

Commodities:

  • Brent crude traded near its lowest closing level in a week after Iraq said oil exports from the south of country will still increase amid the northern insurgency. West Texas Intermediate traded near a three-day high.
  • Gold declined for the first time this week in London on concern that an advance to a two-month high is curbing physical buying and as investors weigh the outlook for the U.S. economy.
  • Copper pared a climb to a four-week high in London as supplies of the metal that can be removed from warehouses expanded amid speculation demand is slowing.
  • China’s chief auditor discovered $15.2 billion of loans backed by falsified gold transactions, adding to signs of possible fraud in commodities financing deals.

Canada:

  • Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. is looking to build up its Latin American presence with smaller deals after it completed the acquisition last week of 50 percent of Canada’s biggest gold mine.
  • Billionaire hedge-fund manager John Paulson is adding his weight to support Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.’s $54 billion takeover bid for Botox maker Allergan Inc. Paulson & Co. has bought more than 6 million shares of Allergan with a value of at least $1 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter. That makes the $21.4 billion firm among the largest investors backing the deal.
  • Canada’s Supreme Court said today that aboriginal groups in BC can be granted legal title to their traditional lands no matter how intensively they use that area, signaling an additional hurdle for the Northern Gateway pipeline.

United States:

  • U.S. stock-index futures were little changed, after equities gained for the first time in three days, as investor’s awaited data to gauge the strength of the world’s largest economy.
  • Alcoa Inc., the largest U.S. aluminium producer, is nearing an agreement to buy Firth Rixson Ltd., a U.K. producer of components for the aerospace industry, people familiar with the matter said.
  • Google Inc. is on a mission to make its Android mobile software ubiquitous. In a series of announcements yesterday at its annual developer conference, Google unveiled a new version of the software for handsets and tablets and showed it in use in smart watches, cars and a new television service.

International:

  • European stocks advanced, snapping a four-day decline, amid increased mergers-and-acquisitions activity, and as investors awaited data to assess the health of the U.S. economy.
  • London Stock Exchange Group Plc agreed to buy Frank Russell Co., a unit of North-Western Mutual Life Insurance Co., for $2.7 billion to bolster its FTSE International Ltd. business. LSE will pay for the acquisition with a rights issue of $1.6 billion and finance the rest with new and existing debt, according to a statement.
  • Asian stocks rose, with the regional benchmark index headed for its biggest gain this week, amid optimism the U.S. economy is emerging from a worse-than-estimated contraction last quarter.