May 13th, 2015

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • Retail sales in the U.S. were flat in April, in month-over-month terms, below estimates of 0.2% growth.
  • Retail sales excluding Autos were up 0.1%, below estimates of 0.5% growth, over the same time period.
  • The import price index for the U.S. was reportedly down 0.3% and 10.7% in month-over-month and year-over-year terms, respectively.
  • The export price index in the U.S. was reportedly down 0.7% and 6.3% in month-over-month and year-over-year terms, respectively.
  • MBA mortgage applications in the U.S. were down 3.5%.

Commodities:

  • Oil extended its advance to trade above $61 a barrel on signs the U.S. supply glut is easing.
  • Gold held the biggest climb in a week as the dollar weakened and investors added metal through bullion-backed funds for the first time in five days. Silver rose.

Canada:

  • An aboriginal group along Canada’s Pacific Coast voted against an almost $1 billion offer by Petroliam Nasional Bhd. meant to compensate the community for building a natural gas export terminal on its ancestral lands.
  • Enbridge Inc. has reached a settlement with the state of Michigan nearly five years after a broken pipeline spilled more than three million litres of oil into wetlands and the Kalamazoo River. (Globe)

United States

  • U.S. stock-index futures rose, signalling the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will climb for the first time in three days, as data may show retail sales grew for a fourth month.
  • Owens-Illinois to Buy Vitro Food & Beverage Business for $2.15B.

 

International:

  • European stocks rebounded amid earnings reports and as data showed the region’s economy expanded at its fastest pace in almost two years.
  • U.K. unemployment fell to its lowest since 2008 in the first quarter and pay growth rebounded in a sign the British labour market is continuing to strengthen
  • Deutsche Telekom AG, Europe’s biggest phone company, reported a 13 percent advance in first-quarter revenue as a weaker euro boosted profit at its U.S. business.
  • Asian stocks rose, with the regional benchmark index heading to a one-week high, as energy shares led the advance. Chinese equities declined after economic data suggested a sluggish response to stimulus.
  • MSCI Inc. will start a standalone equity benchmark for Saudi Arabia with 19 companies as the kingdom opens up the Arab world’s largest stock exchange to foreign direct investments.
  • The safety crisis involving faulty air bags that shoot shrapnel deepened after Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. added more than 6 million vehicles to their global recalls, with Honda Motor Co. planning to expand a call back.
  • Nissan Motor Co. plans to build more than 1 million vehicles in Japan next year for the first time since 2013, as the weaker yen boosts earnings from exports.

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