April 21st, 2015

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • The wholesale sales in Canada were reportedly down 0.4%, below estimates of 0%.
  • The Redbook index, which measures same-store sales of U.S. general merchandise companies, was reportedly up 0.1% and 0.8% in month-over-month and year-over-year terms, respectively.
  • A ZEW economic sentiment survey was reported at 64.8, above estimates of 63.7.

Commodities:

  • Oil halted its advance before U.S. government data forecast to show crude stockpiles expanded further from a record.
  • Gold held below $1,200 an ounce as investors weighed a rally in equities and the dollar against an rise in holdings in bullion-backed exchange-traded products.

Canada:

  • Eldorado Gold appeals to Greek Council of State against energy ministry’s decision to revoke environmental permits for processing plant at gold mine in northern Greece, Kathimerini reports.
  • Catalyst Capital Group Inc., Canada’s second-largest private equity firm, said it closed the first tranche of its latest fund, raising $650 million of a targeted $1.25 billion.

United States

  • U.S. stock-index futures rose, after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rallied the most this month, amid deal activity and corporate earnings.
  • IBM’s first-quarter earnings beat analysts’ estimates that were already significantly lowered, helped by sales of its new mainframe and cloud-computing services.
  • Citigroup Inc. and Morgan Stanley tapped capital markets Monday after the Federal Reserve last month gave the banks approval to return cash to shareholders.

International:

  • European stocks advanced for a second day as companies including SAP SE and Actelion Ltd. posted better-than-forecast results.
  • Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. is preparing an unsolicited offer for rival Mylan NV, people with knowledge of the matter said, in what could be the drug industry’s largest takeover attempt this year.
  • Asian stocks rose as a weaker yen buoyed Japanese exporters and Chinese equities in Hong Kong rebounded. Phone companies and banks led gains.
  • China Mobile Ltd. added about $21 billion of market value in Hong Kong after the world’s biggest wireless carrier by users reported increasing adoption of its fourth-generation services.
  • China Petrochemical Corp. and Beijing Enterprises Holdings Ltd. are planning to sell euro-denominated bonds as non-European companies seek to benefit from tumbling borrowing costs in the region.

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