MARKET CURRENTS
real-time news and commentary for investors
MARKET CURRENTS
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Today - Wednesday, May 22, 2013
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10:06 PM China HSBC flash PMI prints in contraction territory for the first time in seven months, coming in at 49.6, down from a final reading of 50.4 in April. The new orders sub-index falls to 49.5 (eight month low) while new export orders stabilize a bit from last month. Comment!
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8:41 PM Singapore revises Q1 GDP up to show a 1.8% Q/Q expansion (seasonally adjusted, annualized) versus an advance estimate of a 1.4% decline. On a Y/Y basis the economy expanded 0.2%. The Ministry of Trade and Industry says "economic growth … is expected to improve gradually over the course of the year." The Singapore ETF (EWS) is up 19.8% Y/Y. Comment!
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8:31 PM Japanese stocks move up in early trading, with the Nikkei Average rising 0.7% as a weakened yen gives a boost to exporters and offsets early losses in banks: Canon (CAJ +3.4%), Fast Retailing (FRCOY.PK +2.9%), Fanuc (FANUY.PK +1%), Sumitomo Mitsui Trust (SUTNY.PK -1.9%), Shinsei Bank (SKLKY.PK -2%). Comment!
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8:20 PM Citi's Willem Buiter throws in the towel on a "Grexit" in 2014, notable not only because Buiter has repeatedly predicted Greece will eventually bid the eurozone adieu (putting the odds at 90% within 12-18 months late last summer) but because he is credited with coining the term "Grexit" in the first place. Bears needn't despair too much though: Buiter still says "there is a fairly high risk of Grexit at some stage in the coming years." 1 Comment
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3:57 PM Telecom Italia (TI -2.3%) is said to value fixed-line assets at about $18B as it prepares to spin them off. The valuation, which doesn’t take into account debt, is based on six times Ebitda. TI's board is scheduled to meet tomorrow in Rome to complete a review of the spinoff plan, a move that could generate cash to help the former phone monopoly pare debt and reinvest in expanding coverage. Comment!
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1:09 PM Sparton (SPA +2.2%) gains today after saying that it and USSI, a subsidiary of Ultra Electronics Holdings, have won $8.8M in joint foreign sales contracts for the manufacture of multiple Passive and Active Sonobuoys to the South Korean Government. Production will be done from their ERAPSCO/SonobuoyTech Systems joint venture, and should be completed by March, 2014. Comment!
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11:20 AM GlaxoSmithKline (GSK +1%) says it's been awarded up to $200M by the U.S. government to develop new antibiotics. Under the terms of the agreement, GSK will collaborate with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to develop several antibiotics to fight antibiotic resistance and bio-terrorism. GSK will receive $40M for the initial 18-month agreement and up to a total of $200M if the agreement is renewed over five years. 1 Comment
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10:37 AM Rigel Pharmaceuticals (RIGL +0.4%) says it's made clinical advancement in three programs currently in development. The first program is R348, a topical ophthalmic formulation of a JAK/SYK inhibitor being developed to treat dry eye disease. The company notes that the drug was well tolerated in Phase 1 trials, and it plans to initiate Phase 2 trials soon. The other two are oncology programs being conducted by corporate partners, including an AXL kinase inhibitor under development by BerGenBio AS and a ligase inhibitor by Daiichi Sankyo (DSNKY.PK). Comment!
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8:37 AM Thai shares (THD) fall 0.74%, led lower by a 2.6% drop for Shin Corp. (SHNZY.PK) which, as it turns out, will not be added to the MSCI Thailand index (its free-float adjusted market cap isn't high enough). Elsewhere, Philippine equities (EPHE) rise 0.78%, bringing their two day gain to 1.5%. Comment!
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7:35 AM The Swiss franc tumbles to its lowest level in 2 years after SNB chief Thomas Jordan says a raising of the 1.20 euro/franc floor and/or negative interset rates are among the steps the bank could take. The swissie (FXF) is off 0.4% vs. the greenback, but more importantly down 0.7% vs. the euro to CHF 1.2606 - the 1.20 floor seemingly miles away. No crisis here. Comment!
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7:28 AM Sony (SNE) could have a well-needed opening in the TV market after rivals Samsung and LGE Electronics spent billions of dollars on OLED display technology which is behind schedule and will come to the market priced extremely high. With the turmoil, Sony could capture more LCD market share and create a sweet niche with its 4K TVs which will be priced between LCDs and OLEDs. 1 Comment
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7:19 AM The IMF calls for more forceful action on monetary policy in its latest report on the U.K. The agency is likely to get its wish with the only thing seemingly holding back the BOE from easier policy being a wait for a new sheriff to arrive (Mark Carney in July). On fiscal policy, the IMF says take it easy on austerity, suggesting a corporate tax cut paid for by broadening the VAT tax base. Excuse me? Already lower on the session, cable (FXB) snores through the report. The FTSE (EWU) is flat, continuing at a 12-year high. Comment!
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6:41 AM Samsung (SSNLF.PK) says it will take a 10% stake in Pantech to join Qualcomm and Korea Development Bank as part owners of the handset maker. Looking forward, analysts think Samsung will make more acquisitions with it sitting cash heavy and looking for growth outside of organic channels. Comment!
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4:55 AM More from the BOJ: Governor Kuroda elected to steer largely clear of what many view as a no-win situation Wednesday when he didn't use this week's policy meeting statement to jawbone government bonds (JGBL) higher. Surging yields have underscored concerns that the BOJ's purchases could suck liquidity from the bond market, stoking volatility, but rising yields can also be interpreted as a sign investors expect the BOJ will be successful at reflating the Japanese economy. However, acknowledging this is somewhat counterintuitive as "the whole aim of QE is to keep bond yields down," one economist tells CNBC, adding that the BOJ is "damned if they do, damned if they don't." Yields on JGB 10s moved higher to 0.89% after the statement. Comment!
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Tuesday, May 21, 2013
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10:09 PM Shares of Sony (SNE) post double-digit gains in Tokyo after putting in a similarly impressive performance in U.S. trading, as rumors abound regarding a potential spinoff of the company's entertainment business. Broadly, Japanese stocks rally, as the Nikkei jumps 1% to 15,548 ahead of the conclusion of the BOJ's policy meeting. 1 Comment
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7:40 PM Baltic Trading (BALT) announces a public offering of common stock. Size and terms weren't disclosed. The company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for future vessel acquisitions or, to the extent it does not so use them, for working capital and general corporate purposes. Shares +1.8% AH. 2 Comments
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5:00 PM Gilead Sciences (GILD) says its Marketing Authorization Application for sofosbuvir, for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus, has been fully validated by the European Medicines Agency and is now under assessment. 3 Comments
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4:18 PM Herbalife's (HLF +2.7%) naming of PricewaterhouseCoopers as its new outside auditor puts an end to a six-week search, which turned out to be an unusually difficult and drawn out process - the company actually had to seek counsel from the SEC to avoid conflict of interest issues - and was intensely scrutinized because of the bitter public battle between Ackman and Icahn over HLF's business model. The news is a positive for the shares today, if only because the company has been blocked temporarily from raising money in the markets because of its lack of an auditor. 2 Comments
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3:40 PM The loonie (FXC -0.3%) is overvalued by 5-10% given current levels of commodity prices, says BMO's Doug Porter, speaking at a Bloomberg conference on Canada. "We are literally getting hammered by prices in North America," says Enbridge (ENB) CEO Al Monaco at the same event. 1 Comment
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