August 23rd, 2016

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • New Home Sales in the US were up 654K in month-over-month terms, above estimates.
  • The Markit Manufacturing PMI in the US was reported at 52.1, slightly below estimates.
  • The Redbook Index, which measures same-store sales of US General Merchandising companies, was reportedly down 0.4% and up 0.2% in month-over-month and year-over-year terms, respectively.
  • Consumer Confidence in the Eurozone was reported at -8.5, worse than estimates.

Commodities:

  • Oil extended its biggest loss in three weeks before the release of U.S. crude inventory data on Wednesday, while Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cautioned that any OPEC deal to freeze output may only deepen the global oversupply.
  • Gold held a two-day decline as investors await a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Friday for further clues on the timing of any interest-rate increase.

Canada:

  • Canadian stocks rose, rebounding from early declines to halt a four-day slide, as advances in consumer and health-care companies overcame losses in natural-resource producers.
  • Bank of Montreal, Canada’s fourth-largest lender, said fiscal third-quarter profit rose 4.4 percent on gains in consumer banking and capital markets.

United States:

  • U.S. index futures climbed, indicating equities will break out of their recent calm, on optimism that the economy is strong as policy markers debate the timing of the next interest-rate increase.

International:

  • European shares advanced amid encouraging economic data and a rebound in commodity producers.
  • The euro-area economy maintained its momentum in August, with growth showing little sign of being curtailed by fallout from the U.K.’s Brexit vote. A composite Purchasing Managers Index for the 19-nation region rose for a second month to 53.3 from 53.2 in July. That’s above the 50 level that divides expansion from contraction and marks the best reading in seven months.
  • Volkswagen AG reached an agreement with a parts supplier after negotiating through the night, ending a six-day dispute that halted production of Golf and Passat cars amid a shortage of seat and transmission components.
  • Asian stocks rose for the first time in three days as gains in health-care and consumer-staples shares offset declines in energy producers and Japan’s Topix gauge.
  • China will further open its economic borders to investors from abroad in a move intended to counter sliding confidence in the outlook for the world’s second-largest economy. The nation will continue opening its education, finance, culture and manufacturing sectors to foreign investors, the vice minister of commerce Wang Shouwen said at a briefing in Beijing on Tuesday.
  • China’s biggest oil companies may use special dividends to soothe investors after the collapse in energy prices. Cnooc Ltd., the country’s largest offshore producer, may consider a special dividend even as it’s forecast to report on Wednesday that it lost 8 billion yuan ($1.2 billion) in the first half of the year.

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