Monday, July 10, 2017

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1 On Tap 10:00 a.m. Jun Employment Trends Index ETI (previous ), Y/Y% (previous +6.4%) 3:00 p.m. May Consumer Credit Net Chg (USD) (previous +8.20B) Recent Analyst Ratings Actions There are no analyst ratings changes SNAPSHOT U.S. stock futures inch higher; dollar gains; 10-year Treasury yield 2.366%; Nymex $43.90; gold $ Watch for: Employment Trends Index; Consumer Credit; earnings from Helen of Troy OPENING CALL Global stocks started the week slightly higher as a recent selloff in government bond markets paused. Futures pointed to a 0.1% opening gain for the S&P 500 after a solid jobs report on Friday helped ease worries over the U.S. economy, boosting the financial sector. The Stoxx Europe 600 edged up 0.4% in morning trading Monday, echoing gains in Japan and Hong Kong. In European stocks Monday, the food and beverage sector led gains while mining companies lagged behind, tracking modest falls in metals prices. Equity markets were broadly higher in Asia after a strong U.S. jobs report Friday boosted the dollar and U.S. stocks. Japan s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.8% after closing at its lowest level in three weeks on Friday. The dollar strengthened against the yen, topping Y114-a level not seen in two months-which helped propel local exporter stocks. The Bank of Japan raised its view on five of the nation s nine regional economies in a report released Monday, but Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda also said he was ready to make appropriate policy adjustments if necessary to maintain inflation, putting the currency under pressure. The dollar was last up 0.2% against the yen. Hong Kong s Hang Seng added 0.6% as index heavyweight HSBC advanced, while Australia s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4%, spurred by gains in bank stocks. Chinese shares were held back by concerns about the pace of initial public offerings picking up. Over the weekend, Chinese regulators cleared as many as nine IPOs, putting some pressure on local stocks as investor attention turns toward new issues. The Shanghai Composite fell 0.2%, while the Shenzhen Composite, where more new companies list, fell 0.6%. Data released Monday showed China s producer prices held steady in June, ending a three-month deceleration, while consumer inflation was also unchanged from May. EQUITIES ClubCorp Holdings agreed to be bought by private-equity firm Apollo Global Management in an all-cash deal valued at $1.1 billion. Shareholders of the Dallas-based operator of golf and country clubs will receive $17.12 a share in cash, the companies said Sunday. The deal represents a premium of about 30.7% over ClubCorp s closing stock price on July 7, the companies said.

2 ClubCorp s board unanimously approved the agreement with Apollo-affiliated investment funds. ClubCorp s board also declared a one-time quarterly dividend of 13 cents a share. Facebook for the second time this year is slashing the price of its Oculus Rift to jump-start sales after a rocky first year for the virtual-reality device. For the next six weeks, Facebook s Oculus VR unit will charge $399 for the Rift, Touch motion controllers and some games. Previously, Oculus sold that bundle for $598, itself a $200 discount from their combined launch prices. The new, temporarily lowered bundle price doesn t account for the cost of buying a computer powerful enough to support the Rift. It does, though, put the price of owning the high-end headset on par with its toughest competitor, Sony s PlayStation VR. That headset requires gamers to also buy a PlayStation 4 console, which runs anywhere from $249 to $399. Apple s itunes Store-already struggling against rising competition for music listeners-is losing the battle for video viewers as well. The company s market share for renting and selling movies has been falling for several years, tumbling to between 20% and 35% from well over 50% as recently as 2012, according to people with knowledge of the matter. No third parties track market share in the digital-movie business, making exact figures impossible to obtain. Different Hollywood studios do different amounts of business with Apple, but several of them report a marked decline in itunes leadership position. Tesla s sales in Hong Kong came to a standstill after authorities slashed a tax break for electric vehicles on April 1, demonstrating how sensitive the company s performance can be to government incentive programs. Not a single newly purchased Tesla model was registered in Hong Kong in April, according to official data from the city s Transportation Department analyzed by The Wall Street Journal. In March, shortly after the tax change was announced and ahead of the April 1 deadline, 2,939 Tesla vehicles were registered there-almost twice as many as in the last six months of FOREX The WSJ Dollar Index rose 0.1%. As the yen fell to 17-month lows against the euro Monday, the common currency remained slightly higher against the dollar. However, further gains for euro-dollar may be tough as analysts see few near-term catalysts to build on the recent rally. The euro will be stuck around here before eventually moving higher, says Mikael Olai Milhoj, strategist at Danske Bank. He sees the euro remaining below $

3 Meanwhile, sterling traded steady at weak levels. Milhoj says recent weak U.K. data make an interest-rate rise unlikely for now, leaving sterling vulnerable to decline especially against the dollar. At 5.50am ET, USD/JPY was 0.3% higher at , EUR/USD was 0.1% lower at $ and GBP/USD was 0.1% lower at $ BONDS Central banks are likely to remain in focus this week after signs that they might tighten policy put pressure on the government bond market. On Monday, 10-year Treasury yields edged down to 2.366% from 2.393% on Friday, their highest settlement in nearly two months, while 10-year German bund yields edged down to 0.549% from 0.569%. Investors were digesting comments published over the weekend from various European Central Bank officials, while Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen is set to offer semiannual testimony before congressional committees on Wednesday and Thursday. We expect [Ms.] Yellen to discuss at least three major themes: the outlook for inflation, the timing of the balance sheet runoff and the future path of interest rates, said strategists at Nordea Markets. COMMODITIES Oil gave up its 1% gains in Asia as European trading began, and it s picked up steam to the point that futures are now down from Friday s U.S. settlement levels. Persistent concerns about oversupply remain, thanks in no part to a rebound last week in U.S. oil-drilling activity disclosed Friday afternoon. WTI and Brent futures were down 0.7% at $43.90 and $46.39/barrel, respectively. London spot gold slid to the worst levels since March in European hours. The metal fell slightly in Asian trading before dropping toward $1,205/troy ounce; it was last down 0.4% at $1, Commtrenz Risk Management s Gnanasekar Thiagarajan won t be surprise if the declines persist to at least $1,195, the next support level.

4 Other Top Stories Of The Day G-20 Leaders Find Trade Compromises but Split on Climate Leaders from the Group of 20 countries pledged to fight protectionism and secure fair trade, finding a broad consensus after President Donald Trump s defiantly unilateral stance exposed rifts. Trump s Son Met With Russian Claiming to Have Clinton Intel President Donald Trump s eldest son arranged a June 2016 meeting between top campaign aides and a Russian lawyer who has been linked to the Kremlin after being told she might have information helpful to the campaign. Trump Says Time to Move Forward With Russia After Putin Talks President Donald Trump said he had pressed Russian President Vladimir Putin about the nation s meddling in the 2016 U.S. election in their meeting but called for relations between the two countries to move forward constructively. Tillerson Meets With Ukraine President U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, a visit that telegraphs U.S. support to Kiev after President Donald Trump s historic meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. U.S. Shows Off Attack Capabilities After North Korea Missile Test Pyongyang on Sunday denounced the drill, which included U.S. B-1B bombers and F-16 jets as well as fighter planes from the South Korean and Japanese air forces, saying the danger of a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula is reaching an extreme pitch.

5 Today In Canada Earnings scheduled Centamin plc (CEE.T) 2Q Economic Indicators (all times ET) none