October, 24th 2016
Daily Market Commentary
ECONOMIC NEWS
- European shares headed for a three-week high as banks surged and Royal Philips NV reported higher earnings. The earnings season is gathering steam, with more than 100 Stoxx 600 companies scheduled to report this week.
- Asian stocks climbed as Shanghai equities rallied to a nine-month high and investors braced for a busy week of earnings across Japan, China and the U.S.
- Japanese exports fell for a 12th consecutive month in September, rounding out a rough year for manufacturers struggling with a stronger yen and soft global demand.
Commodities:
- Metals: Gold: 1264.61 (-$1.85, -0.15%), Silver: 17.62 (+$0.08, +0.45%); Copper: 2.0885 (0.00%); Zinc: 1.0417 (+1.55%)
- Energy: Crude: 50.60 (-0.49%); Brent: 51.61 (-0.33%); Nat Gas: 2.98 (-0.50%)
- Oil traded near $50 as better-than-expected economic data in Europe countered Iraq’s demand that OPEC should exempt it from planned output cuts.
- Gold was steady as the dollar slipped from its highest level in more than seven months, while data showed that money managers and exchange-traded fund investors cut bullish bets.
- China, the world’s biggest consumer of copper, boosted imports of the refined metal in September amid higher seasonal demand as the economy stabilizes.
Canada:
- TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. and its largest stakeholder, Toronto-Dominion Bank, agreed to buy Scottrade Financial Services Inc. for $4 billion, combining two of the largest online brokerages while expanding the U.S. operations of Canada’s second-largest lender.
- Canadian stocks extended their rally to a fifth day, closing with the biggest weekly gain since March, energy shares continued to ride the rebound in oil and banks advanced on signs that inflation is picking up, making an interest rate hike more likely.
- Canada’s debt, swelled by a decade-long housing boom to almost triple the size of its economy, is drawing increasing concern from an international banking community that says it threatens growth and financial stability. The combined debt of Canadian governments, companies and households reached $4.4 trillion in the first quarter.
- European officials resumed efforts to break the lock that the Belgian region of Wallonia has on their trade policy. The European Commission amended a joint declaration meant to overcome objections by a regional Belgian authority that has derailed a new EU-Canada trade agreement.
United States:
- Gains in U.S. stock-index futures kicked off one of the reporting season’s busiest weeks, with deal activity also spurring optimism for equity markets.
- Wall Street banks are writing some of their biggest checks ever to fund AT&T Inc.’s takeover of Time Warner Inc.
- Rockwell Collins Inc. is acquiring B/E Aerospace Inc. for $6.4 billion in cash and stock, broadening its aerospace supplier business with the largest acquisition in the avionics company’s 83-year history.
- American Midstream Partners to acquire 100% of JP Energy in a unit-for-unit transaction valued at $8.63 per common unit with an estimated enterprise value of $2b.
International:
- Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co. jumped by the trading limit after it announced a 4.6 billion yuan ($680 million) stake purchase in China Shengmu Organic Milk Ltd.
- Singapore, which is vying to become a regional center for the trading of liquefied natural gas in Asia, picked Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Pavilion Gas Pte Ltd. as its next suppliers of the fuel.
- Shanghai’s benchmark equity index closed at the highest level since January amid optimism that the government will boost infrastructure spending and speed up an overhaul of state-owned companies.
- Syngenta AG shares tumbled after China National Chemical Corp. skipped a deadline to make concessions to European Union merger watchdogs probing its $43 billion takeover of the Swiss herbicide and pesticide maker, raising concerns that approval may be delayed.
- Microsoft Corp. will increase the price of its enterprise software and cloud offerings in the U.K. by as much as 22 percent to adjust to the falling pound in the aftermath of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union.
- China Oceanwide Holdings Group Co. has agreed to purchase Genworth Financial Inc. in a $2.7 billion cash deal, joining a record buying spree by Chinese companies as they seek to boost growth overseas.
*All information is taken from Bloomberg, unless otherwise noted.