December 16th

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • Canadian portfolio investment in foreign securities was reported at $0.29B, while foreign portfolio investment in Canadian securities was reported at $9.53B.
  • Manufacturing shipments in Canada were reportedly down 0.6% in month-over-month terms in October, below estimates of a 0.4% drop.
  • Building permits and housing starts in the U.S. were reported at 1.035M and 1.028M, respectively. Both figures were slightly below estimates.
  • The Redbook Index, which measures same-store sales growth in the U.S., was reportedly down 1.2% and up 4.2% in month-over-month and year-over-year terms.

Commodities:

  • Crude oil prices are poised to fall below half where they were six months ago, before producers begin dealing with a global glut.
  • Gold rebounded from yesterday’s biggest drop this year as investors sought a haven amid slumping emerging market equities and falling commodities.

Canada:

  • Repsol SA, Spain’s largest energy company, agreed to buy Talisman Energy Inc. for $8.3 billion, ending a months-long search for acquisitions to help boost crude reserves and production.
  • Australia’s Woodside Petroleum Ltd. agreed to pay Apache Corp. $2.75 billion for stakes in two liquefied natural gas projects, while delaying approval for its own $35 billion-development off the nation’s northwest coast.
  • Encana Corp. announced plans to increase spending next year, even as it lowered its forecast for oil prices and cash flow.
  • Few condominiums in Vancouver are Toronto are owned by foreigners, according to a survey by Canada’s housing agency, suggesting there’s little risk a housing-market crash should be triggered by a quick drop in the global economy. Global investors owned just 2.4% of condos in Toronto and 2.3% in Vancouver.

United States

  • U.S. stock-index futures rose, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will rebound from its lowest level in almost seven weeks.
  • Coca-Cola Co.’s half-century streak of yearly dividend increases is in jeopardy because the beverage maker is “routinely outspending its cash flow,” according to David Winters, Wintergreen Advisers LLC’s co-founder and chief executive officer.
  • U.S. travel during the Christmas and New Year holidays will rise for a sixth year to a record as low fuel prices contribute to disposable incomes, according to the nation’s biggest motoring organization.

International:

  • European stocks rose, buoyed by a jump in automakers, after their biggest six-day slump in three years. Germany’s DAX Index climbed as a gauge of investor expectations increased more than forecast.
  • U.K. inflation fell to its lowest rate in more than a decade in November as tumbling oil prices pushed down transport costs and food prices dropped. Government bond yields declined.
  • A Chinese factory gauge fell to a seven-month low in December even after efforts by the central bank to ease monetary conditions, suggesting more stimulus will be needed to halt the slowdown.
  • The ruble plunged past 70 per dollar to a record low as Russia’s attempt to defuse a crisis with the largest interest-rate increase since 1998 failed to revive confidence in the currency wrecked by slumping oil and international sanctions.
  • The Bank of Japan is likely to increase its record stimulus even more, said 28 of 33 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, with a majority forecasting the bank will continue easing beyond Governor Haruhiko Kuroda’s current term.

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