SPDR Market Commentary-Weekly Market Report
October 4, 2013--ECONOMIES: The government shutdown delays the release of key jobs data in the US. GDP rises solidly in Canada. Mortgage approvals rise in the UK. The European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, and the Reserve Bank of Australia leave policy unchanged and very easy.
MARKETS: The US government shutdown erodes investor confidence. Equities are mostly lower. Although Italian equities and bonds rally as Premier Letta survives no-confidence vote. JPY and AUD are bid. For oil, the Brent/WTI spread narrows.
NEXT WEEK PREVIEWED
SPOTLIGHT: The Bank of England should leave policy unchanged. Retail sales likely post a meager gain in the US, although the shutdown may delay the report's release. Employment should rise moderately in Canada and Australia.
THE WEEK IN REVIEW
US
The EMPLOYMENT SITUATION report for September was not released on schedule because of the Federal government
shutdown, which has led to the furlough of roughly 800,000
"non-essential" government workers including those at the
Bureau of Labor Statistics responsible for the closely-followed
and indeed highly-anticipated employment data. ADP Employer
Services did release its independent estimate of private sector
payrolls for the month. We normally don't highlight this print
because it doesn't have a great track record of predicting the official jobs numbers. However, it's all we have for now.
ADP reported a moderate 166,000 gain in private payrolls for September, up from a downwardly revised 159,000 August gain.
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Source: SSgA
Fixed income ETP flows rebound in September
October 3, 2013--Fixed income exchange-traded products attracted $5.8 billion in net inflows in September, benefiting from the US Federal Reserve's decision not to begin
tapering and reversing strong outflows in the previous month..
Source: Financial News
IMF-Global Impact and Challenges of Unconventional Monetary Policies
October 3, 2013--Summary:This paper takes stock of unconventional monetary policies (UMP) and their impact so far, and looks ahead towards exit and prospects for policy coordination. It synthesizes earlier staff work on UMP,1 the findings of a substantial and growing academic and central banking literature, as well as further staff analysis contained in the Background Paper.
While some widely accepted conclusions have emerged from the large and growing number of studies on UMP, many important questions remain unsettled, as enough time has not elapsed to draw definitive conclusions. In those cases, the paper will pose the relevant questions and provide possible nswers, while recognizing the uncertainty that remains.
Source: IMF
Crucial China support for gold may fade
October 3, 2013--Where would we be without China? It is a question many people in the commodities industry have asked in recent years. But it has particular resonance for gold.
An explosion in physical demand from the second biggest economy has prevented a sharp sell-off from becoming a disorderly rout-and provided nervous investors with a reason to remain positive on gold as its 13-year bull run comes to an end.
Source: CNBC.com
Shocked Bitcoin backers reel after raid
October 3, 2013--"Sit him down at his computer and make him do it...Give him the note, let him use his computer to send the coins back, and then kill him ...Considering his arrest, I have to assume he will sing."
For the libertarians who championed Silk Road as a free market for drugs and other goods that governments have no business banning, and who back Bitcoin, its currency of choice, the indictment of the website's founder has been a shock.
Source: FT.com
Nasdaq and LSE speculation lingers
October 3, 2013--Speculation linking Nasdaq OMX in a tie-up with the London Stock Exchange Group revives one of the industry's longest-standing bid stories.
Bob Greifeld, chief executive of Nasdaq, went hostile seven years ago, with a £12.43 per share offer for the 69 per cent of LSE shares it didn't own. The LSE shareholders rebuffed the approach, and Nasdaq later sold its stake at a profit...
Source: FT.com
IntercontinentalExchange Update on Regulatory Approvals for NYSE Euronext Acquisition
October 2, 2013--IntercontinentalExchange (NYSE: ICE), a leading operator of global markets and clearing houses, provided the following update in regard to its acquisition of NYSE Euronext.
IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) and NYSE Euronext (NYSE) are pleased that the Chairmen's Committee of Euronext Regulators have issued a letter to ICE and NYSE Euronext indicating that they are "not minded to object" to the proposed merger between ICE and NYSE Euronext. With this important milestone achieved, ICE and NYSE Euronext now await final approvals to be issued by national authorities and regulatory bodies in each of the relevant European jurisdictions in order to complete the transaction.
Source: IntercontinentalExchange (NYSE: ICE)
Infographic: Carbon Markets of the World
October 2, 2013--The World Bank has published a Infographic: Carbon Markets of the World
Source: World Bank
FTSE Launches GDP Index Series
New series directly links country weights to the IMF's individual country five-year forecast GDP
Underlying constituents members of the FTSE All-World Index Series
Adds to FTSE's growing number of innovative alternatively weighted indices
October 2, 2013--FTSE Group ("FTSE"), the global index provider, today announced the launch of the FTSE GDP Weighted Index Series.
Calculated on an end-of-day basis, the indices are designed to reflect the performance of indices where country weightings are proportionate to the IMF's five year purchasing power parity forecast GDP for each country.
The FTSE GDP Weighted Index Series is reviewed annually in March and comprises the constituents of the corresponding underlying FTSE All-World Index Series in March.
Source: FTSE
The Options Industry Council Announces September Options Volume Down 4 Percent
October 1, 2013--The Options Industry Council (OIC) announced today that 315,911,302 total options contracts traded in September, which is 4.16 percent less than last September when 329,627,631 contracts were traded.
Year-to-date volume stood at 3,074,874,727 contracts, 1.43 percent more than September of last year when 3,031,485,451 contracts were traded. Average daily volume for the month was 15,795,565 contracts, 8.95 percent less than last September's 17,348,823 contracts.
Source: Options Industry Council (OIC)