April 27th, 2016

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS:

  • UK GDP was up 0.4% and 2.1% in quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year terms, respectively.
  • MBA Mortgage Applications in the US were down 4.1%
  • Pending Home Sales in the US were up 1.4% in both month-over-month and year-over-year terms.

Commodities:

  • Oil climbed above $45 a barrel in New York for the first time since November after U.S. industry data showed a decline in crude stockpiles.
  • Gold advanced for a third day, set for the longest winning streak in two weeks, as the dollar weakened and investors weighed the outlook for U.S. interest rates ahead of a statement on monetary policy from the Federal Reserve.
  • Iron ore forecasts for the five years through 2020 have been revised higher by the World Bank after the commodity rallied in the first quarter on a surge in steel prices in China, the largest user.

Canada:

  • Canada’s biggest aerospace company said it would release quarterly earnings Thursday before the stock market opens, one day ahead of schedule. The company’s annual meeting will still take place as planned Friday at 10 a.m. in Mirabel, Quebec.
  • Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz said negative interest rates may have minimal impact on growth and are even disliked by policy makers pressed into using them, however they’re still an option if the economy needs a jolt.

United States:

  • U.S. stock-index futures fell after Apple Inc.’s first sales drop in more than a decade stoked investor pessimism about corporate earnings, before a policy update by the Federal Reserve.
  • Traders are betting the Federal Reserve will delay raising interest rates when a two-day policy meeting ends Wednesday, and that ought to be welcome news in the Treasury market.
  • Apple Inc.’s streak of 51 consecutive quarters of uninterrupted sales growth is over — and its expansion may not resume until late this year.

 

International:

  • European equities fluctuated, inching lower for the fourth time in five days, with investors increasingly skeptical about the recent rally scrutinizing earnings releases.
  • German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government reached a deal with automakers to jointly spend 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion) on incentives to boost sluggish electric-car sales.
  • Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Air Berlin Plc and other airlines canceled hundreds of flights in Germany on Wednesday as a strike by public-services workers at airports hobbled operations in Frankfurt, Munich and Cologne.
  • Barclays Plc said revenue at the investment bank fell less than expected in turbulent markets and the firm avoided any new misconduct charges, helping investors overlook a larger loss from selling unwanted assets.
  • Nestle SA is shifting large parts of its global ice-cream business into a joint venture with British frozen-foods specialist R&R Ice Cream to share the costs of a low-margin business whose growth trails the rest of world’s largest food company.
  • Asian stocks fell as suppliers to Apple Inc. declined and earnings from Canon Inc. disappointed investors, while fund managers awaited policy decisions from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan.
  • After years of battling Apple Inc. in courtrooms and retail stores, Samsung Electronics Co. may be ready to offer an olive branch. That’s expected to cost the Korean company almost $9 billion upfront.

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