October, 14th 2016

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS

 

  • The U.S. 10-year yield is higher by 3 basis points at 1.77%
  • The European Central Bank is starting to price itself out of the corporate-bond market as yields plumb such lows that some notes are no longer eligible for its purchase program. ECB President Mario Draghi’s unprecedented buying of corporate debt has sent borrowing costs tumbling to a record and now yields on some securities are so low they fall outside the ECB’s own criteria.
  • European stocks rebounded after three days of declines as better-than-expected Chinese data helped ease investor concerns over global growth and the health of the world’s second-biggest economy.

Commodities:

 

  • Metals: Gold: 1253.96 (-$4.13, -0.33%), Silver: 17.51 (+$0.02, +0.09%); Copper: 2.1195 (-0.12%); Zinc: 1.0161 (+0.02%)
  • Energy: Crude: 50.99 (+1.09%); Brent: 52.33 (+0.58%); Nat Gas: 3.34 (-0.18%)
  • Oil headed for a fourth weekly advance in anticipation of a production cut led by OPEC and a decline in crude stockpiles at the largest U.S. storage hub.
  • Gold held near a four-month low as investors focused on the likelihood of higher U.S. interest rates. Holdings in exchange-traded funds increased to the highest since 2013.

 

Canada:

  • Canadian stocks rebounded from a 1 percent selloff to post a second day of gains, as crude advanced after supplies at a key U.S. hub fell and groups that offer high dividend yields rose.
  • Newfoundland-based Fortis Inc. is set to take its place among leading continental energy companies as it closes an $11.3-billion (U.S.) acquisition of a U.S. transmission company and lists its shares on the New York Stock Exchange. (Globe and Mail)

United States:

 

  • Wells Fargo, JP Morgan, & Citigroup to release earnings
  • U.S. stock-index futures rose, signaling equities will trim a weekly drop, as investors turned their focus to financial earnings reports.
  • JPMorgan Chase & Co., the biggest U.S. bank by assets, said profit fell 7.6 percent from a year ago, when results got a boost from $2.2 billion in tax benefits. Revenue climbed 8.4 percent as bond-trading revenue rose more than analysts estimated.
  • RSP Permian Inc. agreed to pay $2.4 billion in cash and stock for Silver Hill Energy Partners amid increasing competition for drilling rights in the biggest U.S. oil field.

International:

 

  • China’s yuan headed for the biggest weekly decline since January as mainland markets returned from holidays to face intensified depreciation pressures from a rising dollar.
  • The financial burden of Samsung’s Note 7 crisis is starting to become clearer, after tallying the total cost of recalling and terminating production of the fire prone smartphones, estimates are around $3 billion on top of already announced $2.3 billion previously announced.
  • China is planning to merge Sinochem Group and China National Chemical Corp. to create an oil-to-chemicals giant as part of the government overhaul of its state-owned enterprises, which would combine more than $100 billion of assets.
  • Reliance Communications Ltd., Indian billionaire Anil Ambani’s telecommunications unit, said it agreed to sell its mobile-phone tower business to Brookfield Infrastructure Group for an upfront payment of 110 billion rupees ($1.65 billion) to help reduce debt.
  • Royal Dutch Shell Plc is considering a sale of its stake in a Malaysian liquefied natural gas export plant, which could fetch more than $1 billion
  • Oil & Natural Gas Corp., the largest Indian oil and gas explorer, and Hong Kong-listed United Energy Group Ltd. are among bidders for Bangladesh natural gas assets being sold by Chevron Corp… The gas fields, which could fetch as much as $2 billion, have also drawn interest from Brightoil Petroleum Holdings Ltd.
  • SoftBank Group Corp. said it will form a new fund to invest as much as $100 billion in the global technology industry in the next five years, partnering with Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund to find companies that will become influential in the future.
  • UniCredit SpA plans to raise as much as 13 billion euros ($14 billion) through a share sale as part of Chief Executive Officer Jean Pierre Mustier’s push to shore up finances, Italy’s La Repubblica reported.
  • Williams Partners LP is facing yet another setback for a $3 billion pipeline project that would carry natural gas through the Atlantic Sunrise project

 

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