May 10th, 2016

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS:

  • The NFIB Business Optimism Index in the US was reported at 93.6, slightly above estimates.
  • The CPI in Greece was reportedly down 1% in year-over-year terms.

Commodities:

  • Oil rose from a two-week low on concern that supplies from Nigeria, Africa’s second-largest oil producer, may be disrupted.
  • Gold traded near the lowest level in almost two weeks as the dollar paused after its longest run of gains since March.
  • Copper traded near the lowest level in almost a month amid concern demand in China, the world’s largest consumer, may be waning.
  • Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, plans “significant growth” in output in 2016 and further international expansion, the head of the country’s state-run producer said, even as global oversupply contributed to a drop in crude prices from a year ago.

Canada:

  • Canada oil-sands producers including Suncor Energy Inc. could resume production within a week after the threat subsides from wildfires that cut as much as 40 percent of the region’s output.

United States:

  • The bearish sentiment that hit traders in the past two weeks is easing, with U.S. index futures climbing amid a rebound in equity markets from Japan to Europe.
  • Blue-chip companies led by drugmaker AbbVie Inc. and energy giant Chevron Corp. sold more than $25 billion of bonds on Monday, making it the second busiest day of the year.
  • The U.S. is about to import the largest wheat cargo from the U.K. in more than two decades as a combination of ample British supply, a weaker pound and rock-bottom freight rates make the unusual trade viable.

 

International:

  • European shares rebounded further as investors speculated a selloff that spurred their worst week since February was overdone, and Credit Suisse Group AG buoyed banks.
  • Credit Suisse Group AG reported a second straight pretax loss at the securities business it’s overhauling as Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam offloaded much of the high-risk assets that have triggered more than $700 million in losses since last year.
  • EasyJet Plc predicted that European demand for air travel will rebound from the spate of terror attacks that pushed it to a first-half loss, boosting dividends 25 percent and saying its cash position is strong.
  • Volkswagen AG is closing in on a fix for tainted 3-liter diesel-powered vehicles in the U.S. that would resolve part of its emissions-cheating scandal and reduce the risk of an expensive buyback program, people familiar with the matter said.
  • Asian stocks rose, with the regional benchmark index heading for its first gain this month, as Japanese shares jumped on a weaker yen and a crime-fighting mayor’s decisive victory in the Philippine presidential election spurred a rally in the nation’s equities.
  • Mitsubishi Motors Corp.’s fraudulent fuel-economy testing and the subsequent plunge in its stock price and sales could cost its second-largest shareholder about 335 billion yen ($3 billion), as the Japanese carmaker’s disclosure reverberates through its business group.

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