March 23rd, 2016

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS:

  • The Markit Manufacturing PMI for the US was quoted at 51.4.

 

Commodities:

  • Oil fell before U.S. government data forecast to show rising crude stockpiles kept supplies at the highest level in more than eight decades.
  • Gold dropped to the lowest in a week after the dollar rallied and investors weighed the outlook for more U.S. interest rate increases this year.

Canada:

  • In his first budget as prime minister released Tuesday, Trudeau put the federal government back at the center of the nation’s economy with almost C$120 billion ($92 billion) in accumulative deficits and the biggest jump in spending since the 2009 recession.
  • Finance Minister Bill Morneau backed off on plans to raise the tax rates on stock options, which would have been a setback for tech startups that rely on options to attract and compensate employees before the firms are generating large revenue.
  • Canadian stocks fell, led by declines among in industrial and material shares, after deadly bombings in Brussels fueled demand for safer assets.

United States:

  • U.S. stock-index futures were little changed, after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index halted a four-day winning streak.
  • The dollar rose for a fourth day against the euro, its longest stretch of gains in more than a month, as a usually dovish Federal Reserve official signaled his expectation of more interest-rate increases than the market has priced.
  • Chesapeake Energy Corp. lightened its debt load by more than a half-billion dollars in the past six months and is snatching up bonds due in 2017 and 2018 at rock-bottom prices.
  • Nike Inc. fell as much as 6.8 percent in late trading after its annual forecast missed analysts’ estimates, raising concerns about growth at the world’s largest sporting-goods maker.

International:

  • European shares advanced in thin trading as calm returned to markets after a two-day decline threatened a rebound that has trimmed this year’s losses by more than half.
  • Credit Suisse Group AG Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam forecast another loss in the first quarter as he pledged to accelerate a restructuring through deeper cost cuts at the securities unit and an additional 2,000 jobs.
  • K. fintech startup GoCardless wants to take its ‘bank-to-bank’ payment network to North America and the world, and has raised new venture capital to help it do so.
  • Enel SpA, Italy’s largest utility, plans to invest about 2.5 billion euros ($2.8 billion) to build a fiber-optic broadband network across the country in a move that could pit it against Telecom Italia SpA.
  • Asian stocks retreated, after the regional benchmark index closed Tuesday at the highest level since January, as deadly terrorist attacks in Brussels weighed on sentiment. Industrial and materials shares led declines.
  • PetroChina Co. profit tumbled to the lowest since 1999 as falling crude prices crimped earnings at the country’s biggest oil and gas producer.

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