March 20th, 2017
Daily Market Commentary
Economic News:
- Wholesale Sales in Canada were up 3.3% in month-over-month terms.
- The Producer Price Index in Germany was up 0.2% and 3.1% in month-over-month and year-over-year terms, respectively.
Canada:
- Canada’s Finance Minister is sticking by his pledge to lower the nation’s debt ratio, signaling the government won’t push much deeper into deficit when it delivers its budget this week. Bill Morneau said he remains committed to the notion a falling level of debt relative to the total size of the economy shows fiscal prudence.
United States:
- U.S. stock-index futures were little changed, mirroring diminishing momentum in major equity markets around the world. S&P 500 contracts expiring in June lost 0.2 percent at 6:05 a.m. in New York. The equity benchmark on Friday eked out its seventh weekly advance in eight after the Federal Reserve raised rates and left its forecast for further increases this year unchanged.
- Uber Technologies Inc. President Jeff Jones is quitting after less than a year, amid multiple controversies engulfing the ride-hailing company. Jones decided to leave because the long string of controversies are not what he signed on for when he left his post as chief marketing officer at Target Corp.
International:
- European stocks were little changed after three days of gains, weighed down by declines in oil-and-gas shares and lenders. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.1 percent percent at 8:25 a.m. in London. Energy firms fell for the first time in four days, tracking crude prices lower.
- Deutsche Bank AG said it will raise 8 billion euros ($8.6 billion) by selling stock at a 35 percent discount to last week’s closing price as Germany’s largest lender seeks to shore up its finances and boost growth.
- Vodafone Group Plc agreed to merge its Indian unit with Idea Cellular Ltd., joining forces with a local partner to confront a raging price war in the world’s second-largest mobile-phone market. The European carrier will own 45.1 percent after selling a 4.9 percent stake to billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla’s holding companies.
- Asian shares extended gains from a 21-month high, while the world’s biggest coal miner soared after posting its first profit in four years and pledging to pay a special dividend. The MSCI Asia Pacific Ex-Japan Index gained 0.4% as of 4:26 p.m. in Hong Kong, with Japan’s markets closed for a holiday.
- As Russia pulls out of its longest recession in two decades, the central bank is shifting away from offering cheap loans to investors taking over failing lenders, a strategy that helped keep the financial industry afloat
- China Shenhua Energy Co., the biggest coal miner in the world’s largest producer, jumped the most since 2008 after rewarding investors with a special dividend as it posted its first profit growth in four years. Shares in Hong Kong closed 16 percent higher at HK$19.14, paring earlier gains of more than 20 percent.
*All sources from Bloomberg unless otherwise specified