January, 9th 2017

Daily Market Commentary

 

 

Economic News:

  • S. stock-index futures were steady on Monday as investors took a breather following last week’s sharp gains, waiting to see evidence of a rebound in corporate earnings before chasing the market higher.
  • The yuan’s volatile start to 2017 showed no signs of abating, with the offshore currency tumbling for a second day as China’s central bank weakened its fixing by the most since June.
  • The pound fell against all major currencies as U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May’s comments over the weekend stoked fears that the U.K. will lose access to Europe’s single market.
  • Euro-area unemployment remained at the lowest level in more than seven years in November, in a sign that the region’s economy is strengthening.

 

Commodities:

  • Metals: Gold: 1179.77 (+$7.14, +0.61%), Silver: 16.53 (+$0.04, +0.22%); Copper: 2.5310 (-0.59%); Aluminum: 0.7741 (-0.35%); Nickel: 4.6735 (+0.58%); Zinc: 1.1959 (+0.68%)
  • Energy: Crude: 53.01 (-1.82%); Brent: 56.12 (-1.72%); Nat Gas: 3.23 (-1.70%)
  • Gold rises for fourth time in five days as investors dissect U.S. labor market report released Friday, which shows some signs of cooling, and outlook for increased demand in run-up to Lunar New Year.
  • Oil fell for the first time in four days as an increase in U.S. drilling activity fanned speculation that OPEC production cuts could revive output in North America.
  • Investors are the most optimistic on gasoline in more than two years as foreign demand grows for U.S. fuel. Money manager’s boosted bets on rising gasoline to the highest level since July 2014 as American refineries export record volumes. Gasoline will outperform other fuels in 2017, spurred by higher consumption in emerging markets from Mexico to China.
  • Oil producers from Saudi Arabia to the United Arab Emirates are complying with production cuts promised last year to stabilize the market, Kuwait’s governor to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said.

 

 

Canada:

  • Canadian pension plan OPTrust is catching up with its bigger domestic peers by setting up a trading floor and adding as many as 10 portfolio managers to oversee about half of its C$18.4 billion ($13.9 billion) of assets in-house.
  • Lululemon Athletica Inc. today announced that the Company is updating its net revenue and earnings guidance for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016 ending January 29, 2017. For the fourth quarter, we now anticipate that net revenue will be in the range of $775 million to $785 million based on a total comparable sales increase in the mid-single digits on a constant dollar basis. This compares to our previous guidance of net revenue in the range of $765 million to $785 million for the fourth quarter.

 

United States:

  • Harris Corp. was awarded a U.S. Defense Logistics Agency contract valued at up to $403.3 million. The total is more than 5.4 percent of the company’s $7.47 billion annual revenue and about 12 percent of its $3.39 billion in U.S. government contract orders.
  • IBM received a record-breaking number of U.S. patents in 2016, topping the list for the 24th consecutive year, showing the efforts the company is making to expand its business into products that process and analyze vast amounts of health-care data.
  • Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV will invest $1 billion toward making three new Jeep models in the U.S., plus a Ram heavy-duty pickup now built in Mexico, as President-elect Donald Trump pressures the auto industry to hire workers and produce vehicles above the border.
  • UnitedHealth Group Inc. agreed to buy Surgical Care Affiliates Inc. for about $2.3 billion in cash and stock to add an outpatient surgery chain that will help the biggest U.S. health insurer diversify its business.
  • Air Products & Chemicals Inc. made an offer to buy China’s biggest producer of industrial gases as it seeks to compete with rivals such as Praxair Inc. in an industry marked by a wave of consolidation.

 

International:

  • McDonald’s Corp. agreed to sell a controlling stake in its China and Hong Kong operations to a group of investors for about $1.7 billion, a key component of the fast-food giant’s reorganization in a market where it’s struggling to catch up with more nimble rivals.
  • For the first time since its 20.3 billion-pound ($25 billion) taxpayer-funded bailout eight years ago, Lloyds Banking Group Plc’s largest shareholder isn’t the U.K. government. The U.K. cut its stake in Lloyds to 5.95 percent, the bank said in a statement Monday. BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest asset manager, replaced Britain as the biggest owner of shares with a 6.32 percent stake.
  • Ipsen SA, a French drug maker that’s been looking for acquisitions for the past year, will pay Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc. as much as $1.03 billion to gain sales rights to a pancreatic cancer treatment.
  • The first electronic bond order was completed last week as banks and investors seek to improve efficiency in the allocation process. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia debt transaction follows a two-year initiative involving 11 banks and more than 100 investors, technology provider Ipreo said in a statement. The company expects as many as 30 investors to post electronic orders this month and to complete some this week.
  • China is planning to consolidate its pharmaceutical distribution sector and aims to have a mega drug distributor with 500 billion yuan ($72 billion) in sales emerge by 2020, as the government pushes to control drug prices and lower health-care expenses.

 

 

*All sources from Bloomberg unless otherwise specified