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Wall Street Mixed; Media Stocks Rise on Dealmaking Prospects





U.S. equities advanced on Tuesday as investor sentiment was supported by the prospects of dealmaking in the media sector.


The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 0.04 percent to 23,557.23, extending a record closing peak. The S&P 500 ended just below breakeven at 2,590.64. The Nasdaq composite dropped 0.4 percent to 6,767.78. The three indexes notched intraday record peaks earlier in the session.


Dealmaking hopes were fueled by news that Disney approached 21st Century Fox on a deal. The two companies have been in talks in recent weeks, but there is no certainty that a deal will get done. Disney gained one percent and was the best-performing stock on the Dow.


Shares of Discovery Communications bounced 1.3 percent and were among the best performers on the S&P 500. CBS also climbed 1.14 percent.


Financial shares dropped as Wells Fargo lost 1.7 percent and Citigroup dropped 1.8 per cent. Shares of JPMorgan were also down by 2.8 percent. The decline in financials comes as the yield curve flattened further for a seventh day in a row.


TripAdvisor and Priceline were the biggest decliners on the S&P 500 after both online travel websites issued quarterly results that raised concerns on their growth prospects.


Solid corporate earnings, along with improving economic data and the prospects of changes to the U.S. tax code, have helped stocks to increase higher since President Donald Trump was elected.


In the first and second quarter of the year, S&P 500 earnings rose 15.5 percent and 10.8 percent, respectively. The current earnings season has also been resilient. According to FactSet, third-quarter earnings have increased 6.3 percent on a year-over-year basis.


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China Exports Rise Less Than Expected In October





China's exports increased at a slower-than-expected pace in October, data from the General Administration of Customs showed Wednesday.


In dollar terms, exports climbed 6.9 percent year-over-year in October, slightly below economists' forecast for an increase of 7.1 percent.


At the same time, imports surged 17.2 percent in October from a year ago, faster than the expected growth of 17.0 percent.


The trade surplus totaled $38.2 billion in October versus the expected surplus of $39.1 billion.


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China CPI Climbs To 1.9% In October





Consumer prices in China were up 1.9 percent on year in October, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.


That exceeded expectations for 1.8 percent and was up from 1.6 percent in September.


On a monthly basis, inflation gained 0.1 percent after rising 0.5 percent a month earlier.


The bureau also said that producer prices advanced an annual 6.9 percent - unchanged from the previous month but topping forecasts for 6.6 percent.


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Wall Street Moved Higher Despite Fall in Bank Shares





Bank shares declined broadly on Wednesday amid concerns that the recent Republican electoral losses might hinder the party's push to reform the U.S. tax code.


The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 0.03 percent to 23,563.36, with Wal-Mart and Merck as the best-performing stocks in the index. Wal-Mart and Merck advanced 1.5 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively.


The S&P 500 rose 0.1 percent to 2,594.38, with consumer staples as the best-performing sector. The Nasdaq composite added 0.3 percent to 6,789.12.


The SPDR S&P bank exchange-traded fund dropped 0.7 percent and hit its fourth consecutive session in the red.


Bank of America was among the worst performers in the ETF, losing 1.5 percent. Shares of JPMorgan Chase also dropped 1.1 percent. However, Goldman Sachs got a boost after it announced it had installed new leaders for its struggling fixed-income division. The bank's shares climbed 0.67%.


Lenders declined after Republicans lost elections in New Jersey and Virginia. These losses raise uncertainty surrounding the GOP's plans to move forward with tax reform.


Banks were also under pressure due to a flattening yield curve. The spread between the two and the 10-year U.S. bond yields moved around 70 basis points, its lowest level in a decade.


A flattening yield curve is sometimes the precursor of an inverted curve, which has been a recession warning.


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Japan M2 Money Stock Gains 4.1% In October





The M2 money stock in Japan was up 4.1 percent on year in October, the Bank of Japan said on Friday - coming in at 981.9 trillion yen.


That was in line with expectations following the downwardly revised 4.0 percent gain in September (originally 4.1 percent).


The M3 money stock gained an annual 3.5 percent at 1,308.8 trillion yen. That beat expectations for a gain of 3.4 percent, which would have been unchanged.


The L money stock advanced 4.0 percent on year to 1,715.0 trillion yen, up from the 3.8 percent gain in the previous month.


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Germany Trade Surplus Slightly Expands in September





Germany's trade surplus increased marginally in September, as imports fell more than exports compared to August.


According to official data from the Federal Statistics Office, the surplus stood at €21.8 billion in September on a seasonally adjusted basis from €21.3 billion in August.


The widening came as exports dropped 0.4 percent to €107.5 billion, and imports dropped one percent to €85.7 billion. The surplus was €20.2 billion the previous year.


The reading, which followed months of growth in both exports and imports, showed that sales of German goods and services abroad only slightly grew overall in the third quarter.


According to economists, trade would not provide any significant contribution to expansion in the quarter, but they are optimistic about the outlook given strong demand for German goods.


Industrial firms posted a 3.6 percent rise in orders in August after contracts for “Made in Germany” goods dropped by an upwardly revised 0.4 percent in July, recent data showed.


Export growth has been softer, which indicates that the economy is counting more on consumption, state spending and construction as drivers.


The country's wider current account surplus, which measures the flow of goods, services and investments, increased to €25.4 billion after an upwardly revised reading of €18.0 billion in August, unadjusted data showed.


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Australia Jobless Rate Falls To 5.4% In October





The unemployment rate in Australia came in at a seasonally adjusted 5.4 percent in October, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.


That beat forecasts for 5.5 percent, which would have been unchanged from the September reading.


The Australian economy added 3,700 jobs in October to 12,297,100, well shy of the forecast for 18,800 following the addition of 19,800 in the previous month.


The participation rate fell to 65.1 percent, missing expectations for 65.2 percent, which would have been unchanged.


Full-time employment increased 24,300 to 8,425,400 in October and part-time employment shed 20,700 to 3,871,700.


Unemployment decreased 8,100 to 701,500. The number of unemployed persons looking for full-time work remained steady at 485,900 and the number of unemployed persons only looking for part-time work decreased 8,100 to 215,600.


Monthly hours worked in all jobs increased 4.6 million hours (0.3 percent) to 1,723.7 million hours.


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European Markets Drop as Commodities Decline, Earnings Mixed





European equities retreat as market sentiment was weighed down by declines in commodity stocks while earnings reports were mixed.


The pan-European STOXX 600 fell 0.49 percent provisionally. It was the index's seventh consecutive session of declines, its longest losing streak since October 2016 when markets fell in the run-up to the U.S. presidential election.


The U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 0.56 percent, while France's CAC 40 lost 0.27 percent and Germany's DAX slid 0.44 percent.


Autos were among the biggest losers, slipping 0.9 percent, but declines were spread across sectors as investors continued to take profits following this year's rally.


Basic resources was also one of the worst performers, as lower-than-expected retail sales and industrial production figures recently seen and a drop in metal prices weighed on trade. Copper producer Aurubis lost four percent.


Oil and gas tumbled 1.49 percent due to lower oil prices. Crude oil's price decline added pressure on mining and energy stocks like Rio Tinto and Royal Dutch Shell.


Among oil companies Tullow Oil led declines, dropping 5.2 percent while services firm TechnipFMC and Austrian refiner OMV also fell 3.2 to 4.3 percent.


German rubber maker Lanxess dropped more than three percent after posting its third quarter net profit which turned out to be lower than the previous year. Potash miner K+S plunged more than five percent, after its operating profit and third quarter revenue missed market expectations.


Bucking the trend was Airbus rising 2.35 percent after receiving a 430 airplane order from Indigo Partners. Shares of Cobham also climbed more than 3.5 percent before trimming gains to end 2.36 percent higher, after it issued a trading statement saying its performance for this year remained "unchanged".


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COLOMBIA: Government Lowers Growth Projection For 2017 To 1.8% From 2%





The Colombian economy should grow less than expected in 2017 - from 2% to 1.8% - said the South American country's Minister of Finance, Mauricio C?rdenas. The minister made the estimate after Colombia's statistics office reported that country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 2% in the third quarter of 2017 on an annual basis.


According to C?rdenas, the official figures "confirm, once again, that the worst is over, that we overcame the most difficult moment and the economy is in a recovery process."


He also said that the government expects a 2.5% annualized growth in the fourth quarter of 2017.


C?rdenas stressed that the third-quarter's data was much better than the last four quarters records, which "raises a more positive economic scenario."


Finally, the minister announced that the economy is expected to grow around 3% in 2018, in line with the forecasts of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which, in its most recent report, estimates that the Colombian GDP would increase in a 2.8%.


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Fed’s Williams Reiterates Support for December Rate Hike





San Francisco Federal Reserve President John Williams restated his view that the U.S. economy has sustained a steady pace of growth that makes it strong enough for the Fed to continue its process of normalizing monetary policy gradually over the next couple of years to around 2.5 percent.


Speaking at the sidelines of a conference, Williams expressed his view that a 'perfectly reasonable' route for policy was one more rate hike this year, and three hikes in the following year.


He also called for his counterparts in other central banks around the world to take advantage of the moment of relative economic calm to reevaluate their strategy to monetary policy. He said that in order to avoid the next recession, global central bankers must take more actions than just lower interest rates.


Williams said central banks will be better able to handle the next economic recession if new approaches which are effective even when many nations are simultaneously limited by the lower bound are developed. He said that alternatives such as negative interest rates, as well as untested tools such as price-level targeting or nominal-income targeting, has significant pros and cons which should be studied and discussed carefully.


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