October 21st, 2015

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • MBA Mortgage Applications in the US were up 11.8%.
  • The All Industry Activity Index in Japan was down 0.2% in month-over-month terms, below estimates of a 0.1% drop.

Commodities:

  • U.S. stock-index futures advance before a flock of earnings reports from companies including General Motors Co., Coca-Cola Co. and Boeing Co.
  • Oil declined in New York, falling from the lowest closing price in three weeks before U.S. government data forecast to show crude stockpiles rose.
  • Gold prices, near the least volatile in four weeks, traded steady as investors awaited next week’s Federal Reserve meeting for clues on when policy markers will start raising rates.

Canada:

  • Bombardier Transportation has signed a contract to provide 62 locomotives to Israel Railways. Based on the list price, the contract is worth about $340-million, and includes an option for an additional 32 locomotives. (Globe)

United States:

  • U.S. stock-index futures advance before a flock of earnings reports from companies including General Motors Co., Coca-Cola Co. and Boeing Co.
  • Lam Research Corp. agreed to acquire KLA-Tencor Corp. in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $10.6 billion to create a semiconductor equipment company with about $8.7 billion in sales.
  • Pearson Plc fell the most since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001 after cutting its full-year profit forecast, citing a drop in U.S. college enrollments and sales of fewer textbooks in countries including South Africa.
  • ARM Holdings Plc, the chip designer whose products appear in almost all of the world’s smartphones, reported third-quarter revenue that beat analysts’ estimates as it won customers for newer, more expensive technology. The stock rose the most in more than two years.

 

International:

  • European stocks advanced as miners reversed earlier declines, while ARM Holdings Plc and Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc gained on better-than-forecast results.
  • Nordea said profit dropped 17 percent in the third quarter as record-low interest rates ate into revenue at Scandinavia’s biggest bank.
  • Ferrari NV raised $893 million in its U.S. initial public offering, pricing the shares at the top end of the marketed range after investor demand in the supercar maker outstripped the stock available.
  • BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, said first-quarter iron ore output rose 7 percent, joining rivals Vale SA and Rio Tinto Group in reporting increased supply amid falling prices and a global glut.
  • Asian stocks rose, led by gains in Japanese shares, amid optimism that weak trade data will spur the Bank of Japan into boosting its stimulus program. Chinese shares slumped.
  • Japan’s exports grew at the slowest pace in more than a year in September, with a drop in shipments to Asia all but overwhelming gains in sales to Europe and the U.S.
  • Posco advanced the most in almost a year on speculation that the worst is over for South Korea’s biggest steelmaker as margins improve in its main business, signaling efforts to boost performance amid increased competition from China are paying off.

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