February 24, 2017

Daily Market Commentary

 

 

 

Economic News:

  • The Canadian CPI was up 0.3% and 2.1% in month-over-month and year-over-year terms, respectively.
  • The US Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index was quoted at 96.3, slightly above estimates.
  • New Home Sales in the US were up 3.7% in month-over-month terms, far below estimates.

Canada:

  • Royal Bank of Canada, the country’s largest lender by assets, said fiscal first-quarter profit rose 24 percent, led by gains in wealth management and capital markets. The bank increased its dividend 4.8 percent to 87 cents a share.
  • Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office said he spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump earlier on Thursday. “The Prime Minister thanked the President for a positive and constructive day of working meetings in Washington on February 13, 2017. The leaders discussed a range of bilateral relations issues, including border cooperation, moving forward on the softwood lumber file and the upcoming G-7 and G-20 summits. They also looked forward to working together on the Canada-United States Council for Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders that was launched during the visit.”

United States:

  • U.S. stock-index futures fell, signaling an end to the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s streak of record closes amid a decline in European stocks led by shares in sectors seen as the most sensitive to economic growth.
  • Chastened by a lack of preparedness for the populism that upended U.K. and U.S. politics last year, banks appear to be taking Marine Le Pen’s French presidential candidacy seriously. Fears of mounting political instability in the euro-area propelled Europe-focused bond investors this morning, with another record low for two-year bund yields today of minus 0.953 percent.

International:

  • European stocks headed for their biggest decline in a week as disappointing results from companies including Vivendi SA and BASF SE overshadowed gains in airlines and technology sectors.
  • British Airways owner IAG Group on Friday said it was hit by a slump in the pound following last year’s Brexit referendum in Britain, but the company nonetheless reported a jump in operating profit.
  • Asian stocks fell, heading for first decline in five days as the yen’s strength weighed on Tokyo equities and weaker metals prices pulled down shares of raw-materials companies.
  • Japanese companies sold a record 249 billion yen ($2.2 billion) of corporate bonds this month that pay a coupon of 0.005 percent or less, as more firms took advantage of the Bank of Japan’s negative rates policy before the end of the fiscal year in March.

 

 

*All sources from Bloomberg unless otherwise specified