March 29th, 2017

Daily Market Commentary

 

 

 

Economic News:

  • Pending Home Sales in the US were up 5.5% in month-over-moth terms, far above estimates.
  • EIA Crude oil stocks rose by 867K, less than estimated.

Canada:

  • Canada’s benchmark equity index gained for a fifth day as strength in energy and financial stocks offset large declines in gold producers. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 92 points or 0.6 percent to close at 15,598.57 as a spike in U.S. consumer confidence renewed investor optimism in the strength of the world’s biggest economy.
  • Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec is negotiating with Canada’s federal government over the purchase of a minority stake in a proposed C$6 billion ($4.5 billion) light-rail transit system in and around Montreal.

United States:

  • U.S. stocks climbed amid a rebound in financials and a rally in energy and materials companies. The S&P 500 jumped 0.7 percent to 2,359 at 4 p.m. in New York, as European markets climbed.

International:

  • European stocks were little changed, with the FTSE 100 Index erasing gains as the U.K. prepares to formally begin its withdrawal from the European Union. Britain’ ambassador will give EU President Donald Tusk a letter from Prime Minister Theresa May invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, at around 1:30 p.m. in Brussels.
  • The U.K. will start the clock on two years of negotiations to withdraw from the European Union on Wednesday, a divorce that will redefine the country’s relationship with its largest trading partner and bring to an end decades of deepening political integration on the continent.
  • Mercedes-Benz is accelerating its rollout of battery-powered autos in a race to meet tighter emissions rules as European buyers turn away from fuel-efficient diesel cars. In a 10 billion-euro ($10.8 billion) project, the world’s largest luxury-car maker intends to release 10 new electric vehicles by 2022, three years earlier than a target announced at the Paris auto show in September.
  • European Union regulators dealt a final blow to Deutsche Boerse AG’s planned takeover of London Stock Exchange Group Plc, a symbolic block on EU-U.K. integration on the same day Britain formally serves notice of its decision to quit the EU. The $14 billion deal to create Europe’s biggest exchange would have harmed competition in the soon-to-be 27-nation EU by creating a de facto monopoly for clearing bonds and repurchase agreements.
  • Asia stocks outside of Japan climbed back toward a 21-month high as confidence in the U.S. economy grew and Federal Reserve officials signaled a gradual approach to rate increases. Japanese shares fell as over three quarters of companies in the Topix index traded ex-dividend.
  • HSBC Holdings Plc’s asset-management unit is considering raising as much as $1 billion for a private credit fund to take advantage of banks pulling back from some corporate lending, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
  • Toshiba Corp. projected its annual loss could more than double to a record 1.01 trillion yen ($9.1 billion) as its U.S. nuclear unit Westinghouse Electric filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

*All sources from Bloomberg unless otherwise specified