March 13th, 2015

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • The Unemployment rate in Canada was reported at 6.8%, above estimates 6.7%.
  • The Net Change in Employment in Canada was -1K, above estimates of -5K.
  • The participation rate in Canada was reported at 65.8%, above estimates of 65.7%.

Commodities:

  • Oil in New York headed for the longest stretch of weekly declines in almost two months as the International Energy Agency said record crude inventories in the U.S. may begin to strain the country’s storage capacity.
  • Gold trimmed a second weekly decline, rebounding from the longest slump in 17 years, as investors weighed data for clues on when the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates in the world’s largest economy.

 

Canada:

  • Canada’s broadcast regulator is proposing new rules that would offer the owners of CraveTV and Shomi the prospect of looser regulation if they make their services available to all Canadians directly online with no television or Internet subscription required. (Globe)
  • Husky Energy reported the start of oil production at the Sunrise oil-sands projects in northern Alberta, in which it owns a 50% working interest. The company said it expects more than 40 years of production from the project with very low ongoing capital costs.
  • Bombardier said Mesa Air Group has agreed to buy seven CRJ900 NextGen aircraft. The order is worth about $326 million at list prices, the plane and train maker said.

United States

  • U.S. stock-index futures were little changed after equities rallied the most in a month.
  • A surging U.S. dollar has revived investors’ appetites for small-cap stocks, a group they just got done punishing for excessive valuations. The Russell 2000 Index is trading at the highest price relative to the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index in eight months.
  • Federal officials are investigating possible manipulation of Herbalife Ltd. stock by fund manager Bill Ackman and people working for him in a long-running probe of the dietary supplement maker, a person familiar with the matter said.
  • Intel cut its revenue outlook for the current quarter by nearly a billion dollars, saying it has seen weaker-than-expected demand for business desktop computers and lower inventory levels.

International:

  • European shares retreated, paring a weekly advance, as declines in energy stocks outweighed gains in industrial companies.
  • Norway’s sovereign wealth fund rose 544 billion kroner ($67 billion) last year as stimulus from central banks across the world boosted bonds and equities.
  • Commerzbank AG agreed to pay $1.45 billion to settle multiple U.S. investigations, closing the door on half a decade of legal woes over sanctions violations claims and its role in one of Japan’s biggest accounting scandals.
  • Asian stocks rose, with industrial companies rising most as the regional equity gauge followed a rebound in U.S. shares. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average closed above 19,000 for the first time in almost 15 years.

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