EconomyThe Nikkei has hit a 15-year high after the Bank of Japan kept its monetary spigots on at full blast, with the BOJ's board voting 8-1 to maintain its asset-purchase target at ¥80T a year. As in the U.S., all that money printing has caused an inflation in assets - if not in consumer goods and services - and the Nikkei rose 0.8% to 19,789.81, the highest close since April 2000.
Saudi Arabia raised oil output to 10.3M barrels a day in March, the highest in at least 12 years, and intends to keep producing 10M bpd despite low crude prices. Oil minister Ali al-Naimi believes that oil will rise in the "near future" but even if it doesn't, some expect the kingdom to hold firm until the slump in crude forces U.S. shale plays into bankruptcy.
German factory orders dropped 0.9% on month in February, which badly missed consensus of +1.5% but did represent an improvement from a 2.6% slump in January. The reading contrasts with other reports, such as strong manufacturing PMI, that indicate strength in the economy. "There is absolutely no need to be worried," says UniCredit economist Andreas Rees. "The upward trend in business sentiment is intact, thereby heralding better hard economic data in the next few months."
Stocks
Shell has agreed to purchase BG Group (OTCPK:BRGXF) for £47B ($69.6B) in a cash-and-stock deal that will add 25% to Shell's (RDS.A, RDS.B) proven oil and gas reserves and 20% to its production. The acquisition will also improve the latter's prospects in new projects, particularly in Australian LNG and Brazilian deep water. With Shell paying a premium of 52%, BG Group's shares surged 37% in London, although Shell fell 1.55% premarket in the U.S.
Shell has agreed to purchase BG Group (OTCPK:BRGXF) for £47B ($69.6B) in a cash-and-stock deal that will add 25% to Shell's (RDS.A, RDS.B) proven oil and gas reserves and 20% to its production. The acquisition will also improve the latter's prospects in new projects, particularly in Australian LNG and Brazilian deep water. With Shell paying a premium of 52%, BG Group's shares surged 37% in London, although Shell fell 1.55% premarket in the U.S.
European energy shares are having a ball following confirmation of Shell's (NYSE:RDS.A) blockbuster deal to buy BG Group (OTCPK:BRGXF) for almost $70B, with the Europe 600 Oil & Gas index +5.2% at the time of writing. However, although the deal pushed the FTSE 100 higher, the rest of Europe was looking pretty down as the poor German factory figures acted as a bit of dampner. Stocks rose in Asia amid an atmosphere of monetary easing, while U.S. futures were slightly up ahead of the release of the minutes of the latest Fed meeting, which will be scrutinized for clues about when the bank might increase rates.
It's that time of quarter again - it comes round so fast - with Q1 earnings season due to unofficially kick off after the bell when Alcoa (NYSE:AA) releases its results. Analysts expect the aluminum producer to disclose that EPS grew to $0.26 from $0.09 a year earlier and that revenue climbed 8.9% to $5.94B. Alcoa reported a strong Q4 in January, but since then its shares have plummeted amid a fall in metal prices. Overall, S&P 500 earnings are forecast to have dropped 2.8% on year in Q1, which would be the worst performance since Q3 2009.
Lions Gate Entertainment dropped 3.4% in post-market trading following news that the film company's biggest shareholder will sell almost 10M shares, with the stake worth $337M. Mark Rachesky's MHR Fund Management will retain over 41M shares after the sale and will remain Lions Gate's (NYSE:LGF) largest investor with around 29%.
The FTC has identified about 340 stores that Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR) needs to sell as part of its $8.5B acquisition of Family Dollar (NYSE:FDO). All or nearly all of the divestments should be Family Dollar stores, which the combined entity would sell to one or more interested buyers who would operate them as dollar stores.
McEwen Mining has been hit by a gold heist at its El Gallo 1 mine in Mexico, where armed robbers took off with 900 kg of gold-bearing concentrate containing around 7,000 oz. of gold. McEwen (NYSE:MUX) doesn't think that its insurance policy will cover the entire expected loss. Shares dived 7.55% in AH trading.
Noble Energy is cutting 220 jobs across the U.S., with around 100 losses at the oil company's Houston headquarters and another 100 or so at its Colorado operations. The cuts represent 10% of Noble's (NYSE:NBL) 2,200 U.S. employees. The news comes after the firm said earlier this year that it was planning to slash spending by 40%.
Today's Markets:
In Asia, Japan +0.8% to 19790. Hong Kong +3.8% to 26237. China +0.9%to 3995.5. India +0.7% to 28708.
In Europe, at midday, London +0.6%. Paris flat. Frankfurt -0.4%.
Futures at 6:20: Dow +0.1%. S&P +0.1%. Nasdaq flat. Crude -2.1% to $52.83. Gold +0.05% to $1211.30.
Ten-year Treasury Yield -1 bps to 1.883%.
In Asia, Japan +0.8% to 19790. Hong Kong +3.8% to 26237. China +0.9%to 3995.5. India +0.7% to 28708.
In Europe, at midday, London +0.6%. Paris flat. Frankfurt -0.4%.
Futures at 6:20: Dow +0.1%. S&P +0.1%. Nasdaq flat. Crude -2.1% to $52.83. Gold +0.05% to $1211.30.
Ten-year Treasury Yield -1 bps to 1.883%.
Today's economic calendar:
7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications
8:30 Fed's Evans: U.S. Economy
10:30 EIA Petroleum Inventories
1:00 PM Results of $21B, 10-Year Bond Auction
2:00 PM FOMC minutes
No comments:
Post a Comment