September 2nd, 2015

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • The ADP Employment Change in the US was 190K, below estimates of 201K.
  • MBA Mortgage Applications in the U.S. were up 11.3%.
  • Nonfarm productivity was up 3.3% in the second quarter, above estimates of 2.8%.
  • The Producer Price Index in the Eurozone was down 0.1% and down 2.1% in month-over-month and year-over-year terms, respectively.

Commodities:

  • Crude dropped below $45 a barrel before U.S. government data forecast to show stockpiles expanded in the world’s biggest oil consumer.
  • Gold held gains as investors sought a haven from recent equity declines sparked by concerns of a deepening slowdown in China.
  • Copper inventories in China’s bonded warehouses fell to the smallest in almost two years as traders moved metal to the domestic market amid slower sales from smelters.

Canada:

  • Canadian synthetic crude prices strengthened the most in more than a year as Nexen Energy said it was shutting its Long Lake unit in Alberta, the second oil-sands operation to be closed in less than a week.
  • A mistake by Air Canada in offering a package of flights at just 10 per cent of the value has triggered a proposed class-action lawsuit by customers who thought they got an amazing deal. (Globe)
  • Royal Bank of Canada is expanding its digital wallet to mobile-phone customers using Google Inc.’s Android operating system on all Canadian wireless operators.

United States:

  • Treasury market analysts are scaling back their forecasts for a selloff over the next year as yields show traders expect almost no inflation.
  • Uber Technologies Inc. is negotiating cheaper deals for new vehicles with Kia Motors Corp. to boost its number of drivers fivefold in the Nigerian city of Lagos, Africa’s biggest, to 3,000 by the end of next year.
  • ConocoPhillips, the fourth-largest U.S. oil company, plans to reduce its workforce by 10 percent in the latest sign that the energy industry is preparing for a longer downturn.

 

International:

  • European stocks climbed with U.S. equity-index futures and the yen retreated after a two-day global equity selloff drove demand for havens. Concern that the slowdown in China may crimp global growth sent Asian shares lower.
  • Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies are at odds with Iran and other OPEC members over whether the organization should include oil-price forecasts in its long-term strategy report, according to three of the group’s delegates.
  • UBS AG avoided a trial with an agreement to settle a lawsuit in which it was accused of peddling “crap” securities during the 2007 financial crisis.
  • China-focused hedge funds probably had their worst month in almost 16 years in August, with firms including Orchid Asia Group Management and APS Asset Management Pte suffering losses from the nation’s stock market collapse.
  • A group led by MBK Partners Ltd. is nearing an agreement to buy Tesco Plc’s South Korea business for about $6 billion including debt, in what could be the country’s biggest private-equity deal, people with knowledge of the matter said.

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