September 1st, 2016

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • Initial Jobless claims in the US were quoted at 263K, slightly below estimates.
  • The Markit Manufacturing PMI was quoted at 52, slightly below analyst estimates.
  • The ISM Manufacturing PMI was quoted at 49.4, also below estimates.

Commodities:

  • Oil traded near the lowest close in almost three weeks in New York after U.S. government data showed crude stockpiles at the highest seasonal level in more than 20 years.
  • Gold held last month’s decline as investors await U.S. jobs data due Friday for further clues on the timing of an interest rate increase.
  • Natural gas traders are betting on the frostiest U.S. winter since the “polar vortex” pummeled the U.S. in 2014 and sent prices for the heating fuel to a five-year high. Gas for delivery next March is trading at the highest seasonal premium to April futures since record cold swept across the U.S. nearly three years ago.

Canada:

  • British Columbia became the first government to issue offshore bonds denominated in India’s currency, as the Canadian province plans to boost trade with the world’s fastest-growing major economy.
  • The Canadian dollar fell to its weakest level in three weeks after a report showed the nation’s economy contracted by the most since the 2009 recession as wildfires in Alberta lowered oil production.

United States:

  • U.S. stock-index futures rose, indicating equities will rebound from a two-day drop, amid positive signs for global growth, as investors await Friday’s key payrolls data for indications of the health of the U.S. economy
  • Bill Gross is recommending the Federal Reserve raise interest rates twice by as early as March. The market doesn’t expect that degree of monetary tightening even by the end of 2017.
  • com Inc. has discovered a new use for Twitch Interactive Inc., which it purchased two years ago for about $1 billion. Seeking feedback from Twitch’s highly engaged audience of 10 million daily users, Amazon streamed two original TV-show pilots produced by its own studios on the gaming website.

International:

  • U.K. pension deficits surged by 100 billion pounds ($131.4 billion) in August, as the gap between company set-asides and their obligations to retirees ballooned by more than 16 percent in a month.
  • CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. and VimpelCom Ltd. won European Union approval for a merger creating Italy’s largest wireless provider after they agreed to help a smaller rival, Iliad SA, become the country’s fourth mobile carrier.
  • Stocks in Asia’s largest equity markets climbed before a U.S. jobs report Friday as Japanese shares advanced and a surprise gain in a Chinese manufacturing gauge drove a rally in Hong Kong equities. Developing-nation shares slumped.
  • India’s inflation is accelerating and a hawkish new central bank chief has little room to cut interest rates. So why are rupee sovereign bonds emerging Asia’s best performers over a month? The reason is about 900 billion rupees ($13.4 billion) in Reserve Bank of India cash infusions since April and the possibility of another 900 billion rupees via open-market bond purchases by March 31.

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