September 23rd

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • Overall retail sales in Canada were reportedly down 0.1% in month-over-month terms, with retail sales excluding autos falling 0.6%.
  • The Redbook Index, which measures same-store sales growth in the U.S., was reportedly down 0.6% and up 3.7% in month-over-month and year-over-year terms, respectively.
  • The Housing Price Index in the U.S. was reportedly up 0.1%.
  • The Markit Manufacturing PMI for the Eurozone was reported at 50.5, in line with estimates.

Commodities:

  • Gold rose from an eight-month low in London as investors assessed air-strikes in Syria and signs of more physical demand against the outlook for an improving U.S. economy. Silver gained from the lowest price in four years.
  • Brent rose from a one-week low after a Chinese manufacturing gauge beat forecasts, signalling increased demand from the world’s second-biggest oil consumer. West Texas Intermediate advanced in New York.
  • Iron Ore slumped below $80 a metric ton for the first time in five years on speculation that China’s slowing economic growth will curb demand in the world’s biggest user, exacerbating a global surplus.
  • Copper rose in New York after four sessions of declines and nickel advanced from a five-month low after better-than-expected factory data from China, the biggest user of industrial metals.

Canada:

  • Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. is outperforming other retailers as investors wager the Canadian convenience-store operator is gearing up for more acquisitions after absorbing its latest billion-dollar purchase.
  • Enbridge Inc., Canada’s largest pipeline operator, said C$1.76 billion ($1.59 billion) of pipeline assets and shares will be transferred to a unit. The Enbridge Income Fund Holdings unit will increase its dividend 12 percent as the Enbridge Income Fund gains direct and indirect stakes in the U.S. leg of the Alliance oil pipeline and the Southern Lights pipeline through the asset transfers.
  • Veresen Inc., the Canadian company planning a terminal to ship liquefied natural gas to Asia from Oregon, agreed to buy Global Infrastructure Partners’ 50 percent stake in the Ruby pipeline for $1.43 billion.

United States:

  • U.S. stock-index futures fell as a government crackdown on tax-saving mergers sent AbbVie Inc. lower and amid escalating conflict in the Middle East.
  • Allergan Inc. is in talks to acquire Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd., reviving discussions that began in July in an effort to fend off a hostile takeover offer from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., people with knowledge of the matter said.
  • Boeing Co. is closing in on winning an order from Kuwait Airways Corp. for 10 wide-body 777-300ER jets valued at $3.3 billion at list prices, people with knowledge of the negotiations said.

International:

  • European stocks fell the most in more than six weeks as health-care companies tumbled amid concern tougher American tax rules will erode their takeover appeal and as manufacturing growth slowed in the euro area.
  • German companies are embarking on their biggest-ever acquisition spree in the U.S., chasing deals that promise innovation, growth and an escape route from crisis-ridden Europe.
  •  Royal Bank of Scotland Plc is selling shares of its U.S. subsidiary, freeing the unit from the shadow of Britain’s largest state-owned lender and allowing it to compete with American regional banks.
  • Barclays Plc agreed to pay 38 million pounds ($62 million) to Britain’s market regulator for failing to properly protect 16.5 billion pounds of client assets.
  • Health-care stocks fell en masse in the U.S. and Europe, after the U.S. government put out rules designed at blocking cross-border, tax-reducing deals that have helped drive a record period of industry mergers and rewarded investors.
  • A gauge of Asian stocks traded near a four-month low after a Chinese manufacturing index unexpectedly increased this month and Australian banks rallied, offsetting a slide at Samsung Electronics Co.
  • Tencent Holdings Ltd. dropped for a second day to its lowest close in almost three months after being dethroned as Asia’s biggest Internet company by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
  • Japanese mobile-phone company SoftBank Corp. is considering an investment in Mexican wireless carrier Grupo Iusacell SA, according to people with knowledge of the matter, in what may be its first foray into the fast-growing Latin American market.

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