March 21st, 2016

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS:

  • The Current Account of the Eurozone was listed at 25.4B euros, below estimates.

 

Commodities:

  • Oil fell for a second day in New York, extending declines from a three-month high, as the number of drilling rigs active in the U.S. rose for the first time in three months amid a global glut.
  • Speculators became the most bullish on oil since June as a meeting of major producers next month may yield an agreement to cap output.
  • Investors bought the most through gold-backed funds in almost a month, a sign that the appeal of the metal is enduring even as the rally begins to fade.
  • Iron ore futures in Singapore extended a gain above $50 a metric ton as further signs of a recovery in China’s property market, coupled with policy makers’ plans.

Canada:

  • Canadian regulators extended by three months Petroliam Nasional Bhd.’s application to build a liquefied natural gas terminal on the nation’s Pacific coast so the Malaysian company can provide more information about the project’s environmental impacts.
  • Bombardier Inc. is pushing to shift major chunks of work on its Toronto-built Q400 turboprop planes to Mexico and China, eliminating about 200 jobs at the suburban Toronto factory where those components are assembled now. (Globe and Mail)

United States:

  • U.S. stock-index futures inched higher as investors assessed a rally that turned equities positive for the year.
  • The dollar headed for its steepest three-week slide in more than four years as an increasingly cautious Federal Reserve spurred analysts and investors to reassess forecasts for the greenback.
  • Foxconn Technology Group’s delay in finalizing a takeover agreement for Sharp Corp. is raising risks that the deal the Taiwanese company has pursued for months will fall apart before it’s completed.
  • Sherwin-Williams Co., the largest U.S. paint retailer, said it agreed to buy rival Valspar Corp. for about $9.3 billion in cash to become the world’s biggest coatings maker.

International:

  • European stocks reversed earlier losses to advance as potential merger-and-acquisition activity boosted chemical companies, outweighing sliding miners and energy producers.
  • Asian stocks rallied in late trading, with a regional gauge erasing declines, as Chinese shares climbed above the 3,000 level for the first time since January after policy makers loosened controls on margin lending.
  • As India drags the U.S. before the World Trade Organization over a spike in American visa fees for foreign workers, the stakes go well beyond the few thousand dollars required for paperwork.
  • Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. sold 3 trillion yuan ($463 billion) of goods through its online shopping websites in the year ending March, as China’s largest e-commerce operator moved deeper into the untapped countryside and courted foreign brands.

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