May 4th, 2015

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • The Markit Manufacturing PMI in the Eurozone was reported at 52, slightly above estimates.
  • A Sentix survey of investor confidence was reported at 19.6, slightly below estimates.
  • The HSBC Manufacturing PMI for China was reported at 48.9.

 

Commodities:

  • Oil held below $60 in New York as a Chinese manufacturing gauge weakened in April, signalling fuel demand is slowing in the world’s biggest energy consumer.
  • Gold rose for the first time in four days as investors gauged the outlook for higher U.S. interest rates before the monthly jobs data later this week

Canada:

  • Bombardier, Orascom Win $1.5b Rail Contract in Egypt. Group includes Orascom Construction, Arab Contractors; construction of rail line in Cairo to start 2016, end mid-2018.
  • The Petroliam Nasional Bhd-led group planning a natural gas export terminal on Canada’s Pacific Coast is offering one aboriginal community C$1.15 billion ($950 million) over 40 years to approve the project

United States

  • U.S. index futures advanced, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will rise for a second day, before data on factory orders.
  • FedEx Corp.’s stock is nearing a technical support level as the boost to earnings from cost-cutting and acquisitions moderates, signalling its underperformance could continue.
  • Comcast Corp., the cable provider that dropped its bid to buy Time Warner Cable Inc. 10 days ago, reported first-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates after signing up more Internet customers.

International:

 

  • European stocks rebounded after their biggest weekly loss since December, as data showed manufacturers raised prices for the first time in eight months.
  • Euro-area manufacturers raised prices for the first time in eight months, adding to signs that the region’s economy is overcoming deflation fears.
  • Raiffeisen and Sydbank rise most in April among finance stocks listed in Euro Stoxx 600 when share prices are calculated in euros. Bank index gains 0.6% vs financial services up 1.2%, while insurers drop 5.5%.
  • Asian stocks outside of Japan gained for the first time in four days amid speculation China will add to monetary stimulus after a manufacturing gauge weakened.
  • A Chinese manufacturing gauge trailed economists’ estimates in April as new orders declined, underscoring forecasts for policy makers to step up stimulus to shore up growth.
  • China started an insurance system for its more than 100 trillion yuan ($16 trillion) of bank deposits on May 1 and the bond market is already preparing for the next step: the end of interest rate controls.

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