August 14th

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • The New Housing Price Index in Canada was reportedly up 0.2% and 1.5% in month-over-month and year-over-year terms, respectively.
  • Initial Jobless Claims in the U.S. were reported at 311K.
  • Continuing Jobless Claims in the U.S. were reported at 2.544M.
  • The Consumer Price Index in the Eurozone was reportedly up 0.4% in year-over-year terms, in line with estimates.

Commodities:

  • Gold demand fell 16 percent in the second quarter, led by declines in India and China, the World Gold Council said.
  • West Texas Intermediate fell amid speculation that U.S. oil demand is slowing after a government report showed weekly crude inventories expanded for the first time since June. Brent declined in London.
  • Corn dropped for the first time this week as forecasts for rain in the U.S. are seen aiding crops estimated to reach a record. Soybeans retreated for a fourth day to the lowest since 2010.

Canada:

  • Target Corp., looking to fix its Canadian operations after a money-losing expansion into the country, is revamping the product line-up, improving supplies and teaming up with celebrity designer Sarah Richardson.
  • Desire2Learn Inc., a Canadian education technology start-up, raised $85 million in its second round of funding and plans to use the proceeds to develop its cloud-based learning software and speed  international expansion.
  • Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the country’s largest pension manager, returned 1.6% on its investments in the first quarter of fiscal 2015, below the median achieved by all Canadian pension funds during the quarter. The fund’s assets rose 37% for the three month period ended June 30th.

United States:

  • U.S. stock index-futures were little changed, after equity benchmarks rose to their highest level in two weeks, as investors awaited earnings reports from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and J.C. Penney Co.
  • Cisco Systems Inc. Chief Executive Officer John Chambers is struggling to revamp the world’s largest networking-equipment maker, eliminating 6,000 jobs in a new round of cuts and forecasting little to no sales growth.
  • Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, reported stagnant same-store sales and cut its earnings forecast for the year, hurt by higher health-care costs and slow traffic at its supercenters.

International:

  • European stocks advanced, reversing earlier losses, as ThyssenKrupp AG and Royal Boskalis Westminster NV climbed. U.S. futures and Asian shares rose.
  • The euro area’s recovery unexpectedly stalled in the second quarter as its three biggest economies failed to grow, underlining the vulnerability of the region to weak inflation and the deepening crisis in Ukraine.
  • Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s largest oil company, sold two gas assets in Wyoming and Louisiana for $2.1 billion plus additional shale acreage in Pennsylvania.
  • Asian stocks rose, with the regional benchmark index gaining for a fourth day, as investors weighed earnings and the likely timing of Federal Reserve interest-rate increases.
  • China’s plunge in credit expansion last month and unexpected slowdown in investment spending flashed warnings on growth that investors and economists bet will spur policy makers to expand stimulus.
  • South Korea’s central bank cut its interest rate for the first time in more than a year, risking inflaming record household debt as it backs government efforts to spur Asia’s fourth-biggest economy.
  • Lenovo Group Ltd. reported at 23% surge in first-quarter profit as the world’s largest maker of personal computers gained a greater portion of the global market for desktop models and mobile devices. Shares rose.

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