March 23rd, 2017

Daily Market Commentary

 

 

 

Economic News:

  • New Home Sales in the US were reportedly up 600K in the US, above estimates.
  • Continuing Jobless Claims in the US were quoted at 2M in march, slightly below estimates.
  • Retail Sales in the UK were reportedly up 1.4% and 3.7% in month-over-month and year-over-year terms, respectively. Both figures were above estimates.

Canada:

  • Canadian stocks rebounded to end the day higher after briefly moving into negative territory for the year. The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 0.2 percent to close at 15,348.46. Earlier in the day, it fell as low as 15,241.55, erasing its gains for 2017 and making it one of the worst-performing developed market benchmarks year-to-date.
  • Canada’s federal government will issue a record C$142 billion ($106 billion) of bonds next fiscal year to finance its growing budget deficit. The amount eclipses the previous year’s record of C$135 billion, which was revised up from a projected C$133 billion. The bulk of the issuance will be in two-, three- and five-year bonds, the federal government said in its budget for the 2017-18 fiscal year released Wednesday in Ottawa.

United States:

  • U.S. stock-index futures were steady, with health-care stocks in focus as the latest version of a planned overhaul of Obamacare heads for a vote in the House of Representatives Thursday. The benchmark rose 0.2 percent on Wednesday, stabilizing after a selloff the previous day.
  • America’s natural gas stockpiles probably dropped the most seasonally on record as a last shot of winter cold sent demand for the heating fuel soaring. Stockpiles fell by 151 billion cubic feet in the seven days ended March 17, based on estimates compiled by Bloomberg. That would be the biggest decline ever for the third week of March, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration show. The five-year average decrease is 21 billion for the period.
  • Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. signaled plans to cut an unspecified number of jobs as the world’s largest maker of cheap copycat drugs seeks to exit unprofitable operations and reduce expenses in an effort to pare its debt and revive growth. The Israeli drugmaker is looking for a new chief executive to turn around the business after its $40.5 billion acquisition of Allergan Plc’s generic business saddled the drugmaker with debt.

International:

  • European stocks were little changed, with advances in mining companies countering declines in food and beverage producers. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was little changed at 374.11 as of 8:38 a.m. London time, after three days of losses.
  • China’s gasoline exports surged to a record in February after the week-long Lunar New Year holiday was seen sapping domestic demand, forcing refiners to look overseas to sell surplus fuel. The world’s largest energy consumer exported 316,107 barrels a day of gasoline in February.
  • Toyota Industries Corp., a parts-and-assembly affiliate of Japan’s largest carmaker, has agreed to buy Dutch baggage and parcel handling equipment manufacturer Vanderlande Industries Holding BV for 1.16 billion euros ($1.25 billion) to expand its products beyond forklifts.
  • Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s investment in Chinese video streaming service Kuaishou values the startup at about $3 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said. Tech giants from Tencent to Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. are investing billions of dollars in video content and services, hoping to convert time spent on these platforms into online ad revenue.

*All sources from Bloomberg unless otherwise specified