June 3rd, 2014
Daily Market Commentary
ECONOMIC NEWS
- The Consumer Price Index in the Eurozone was reportedly up 0.5% in year-over-year terms, slightly below estimates of 0.7%.
- The Consumer Index Price Core was reportedly up 0.7%.
- The Unemployment Rate in the Eurozone was reported at 11.7%, slightly below estimates of 11.7%.
- The Unemployment rate in Italy was reported at 12.6%, slightly below estimates of 12.7%.
Commodities:
- Brent crude traded near its lowest closing level in three weeks as economic data pointed to sluggish growth in the euro area. West Texas Intermediate was steady before weekly data on inventories.
- Gold traded near a four-month low in London as investors weighed gains in equities and the dollar against speculation the drop may spur more buying.
- Copper fell in London before a report projected to show factory orders slowed in the U.S., the world’s second-biggest consumer of the metal.
- Wheat futures fell, capping the longest slide since 1998, as favourable weather boosted harvest prospects for winter varieties in the U.S., Russia and Ukraine, while spring planting progressed in North America.
- Meeting the world’s energy supply needs by 2035 will require $40 trillion of investment, as demand grows and production and processing facilities have to be replaced, the International Energy Agency said. More than half of that amount will be needed to compensate for declining output at mature oil and gas fields, and the remainder on finding new supplies to meet rising demand.
Company News:
Canada:
- Bombardier Inc. still plans to have its new C-Series jet enter service in the second half of 2015, though until the root cause of last week’s engine fire is known the schedule isn’t assured, a senior executive said.
- Element Financial Corp., the Toronto-based equipment finance company, agreed to buy PHH Corp.’s North American fleet management business for $1.4 billion in cash to expand in the U.S. market.
United States:
- U.S. stock-index futures were little changed, after the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose to its third consecutive record, as investors awaited data to gauge the strength of the recovery in the world’s biggest economy.
- Investors pulled money from the biggest fund at Pacific Investment Management Co. for a 13th straight month, as the firm assures them that performance will soon be back at the top of the pack. Bill Gross’s Pimco Total Return Fund, the world’s largest bond fund, suffered an estimated $4.3 billion in redemptions in May.
- Apple Inc. changed its policy to let software developers include virtual-currency transactions in their applications, paving the way for new forms of money like bitcoin to appear on iPhones and iPads.
International:
- European stocks declined from a six-year high as a report showing lower-than-estimated inflation in the euro area prompted investors to weigh the outlook for interest rates before Thursday’s European Central Bank meeting.
- Euro-area inflation slowed more than economists forecast in May, cranking up pressure on the European Central Bank to deploy measures as soon as this week to kindle prices and drive growth.
- Asian stocks rose, with the regional benchmark index poised for a seven-month high, as concern eased about a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.
- A Chinese manufacturing gauge rose to a four-month high, signalling that the economy is stabilizing even as job cuts and weakness in the property market underscore pressure on the government to do more to support growth.