September 19th

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • The Consumer Price Index in Canada was reportedly flat and up 2.1% in month-over-month and year-over-year terms, respectively. Both figures were in line with estimates.
  • The consumer price index core in Canada was reportedly up 0.5% and 2.1% in month-over-month and year-over-year terms, respectively, both of which were above estimates.
  • Wholesale Sales in Canada were reportedly down 0.3% in month-over-month terms.
  • The Producer Price Index in Germany was reportedly down 0.1% and up 0.8% in month-over-month and year-over-year terms, respectively.

Commodities:

  • West Texas Intermediate crude declined as speculation the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates countered signs of lower production from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Brent also fell in London.
  • Gold fell toward an eight-month low in London after the Federal Reserve raised its interest-rate forecasts this week, strengthening the dollar
  • Copper fell in London, poised for a fourth weekly drop, amid signs that housing markets are slowing in China and the U.S., the world’s two biggest consumers of industrial metals.

Canada:

  • The cost of building the Keystone XL oil pipeline, which is awaiting approval from the U.S. after an initial rejection, may climb 85 percent to $10 billion, according to developer TransCanada Corp.
  • TransCanada Corp., the second-largest Canadian pipeline operator, rose the most in more than three years amid speculation U.S. activist hedge funds are reviewing the company for a possible breakup.
  • Canada’s inflation rate excluding eight volatile items quickened to the fastest since April 2012 last month on higher prices for new cars and telephone services.

United States:

  • U.S. stock-index futures rose, signalling equities may extend a record, amid continued investor optimism that interest rates will remain low even as data suggest the world’s biggest economy is strengthening.
  • Exxon Mobil Corp. and OAO Rosneft halted drilling on an offshore oil well intended as the first step in unlocking billions of barrels of crude in Russia’s remote Arctic, according to people familiar with the project.
  • Apple Inc.’s stores attracted long lines of shoppers for the debut of the latest iPhones, indicating healthy demand for the bigger-screen smartphones.

International:

  • European stocks rallied to the highest level since January 2008, with the U.K. benchmark gauge trading near a 14-year peak, as Scotland voted to reject independence from Great Britain.
  • Scotland voted to stay in the U.K. in a referendum on independence, stepping back from a breakup of the 307-year-old union while wringing promises of more financial power from Prime Minister David Cameron.
  • Siemens AG is preparing to offer more than $6.5 billion for Dresser-Rand Group Inc. as Europe’s largest engineering company looks to scupper a competing plan by Sulzer AG to merge with the U.S. oil-and-gas equipment maker, according to people familiar with the plan.
  • Asian stocks rose, paring a second weekly decline on the benchmark index, as fewer Americans filed for jobless claims, the yen held at a six-year low against the dollar and Scotland voted to reject independence.
  • Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., the e-commerce company started in 1999 with $60,000 cobbled together by Jack Ma, cemented its status as a symbol of China’s economic emergence by raising $21.8 billion in a U.S. initial public offering.

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