Stocks Recover from Gap-Down; Bond Yields Bouncing Back
Stocks in the U.S. market opened with a gap-down and recovered after bond yield tried to move up in the opening hours of the day.
The S&P 500 crept into the green, bouncing up more than 0.64% from the day-low. Meanwhile, crude oil prices and bond yields fell after opening with a gap-up on Monday. Currently, strong corporate earnings and economic numbers are pushing the market up which is being hit by the global energy shortages.
- Stoxx Europe is down by 0.49%
- Dow Jones is flat
- NASDAQ is up by 0.45%
Goldman Sachs Set to Own All of China Unit
China has signaled that it will be opening up its financial system to big players from the U.S. by approving Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s application to full ownership of a key local unit that it has co-owned since 2004. The wholly-owned subsidiary will perform most key banking operations such as investment banking functions, trading, and wealth management. This clearance to own all of its operations by itself happened after Morgan Stanley earlier secured majority ownership of its operations in China.
Former USFDA Commissioner Calls For A Probe Into Delta Plus Covid Variant
Former US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb on Monday called for thorough research into the mutated version of the delta variant, delta plus as Covid-19 cases surge in the U.K. He said that there is no clear indication that it’s more transmissible, but needs deeper analysis on this. The U.K. on Sunday has reported the highest daily rise in new cases since mid-July.
Amazon Seeks to Hire 150,000 Seasonal U.S. Workers
Amidst the unemployment crisis in the US, Amazon.com Inc. sought to hire 150,000 seasonal workers as the holiday season is around the corner. Competing companies such as Walmart Inc. and Target Corp. have also indicated plans to increase their hiring. Many industries have been finding it difficult to hire during the pandemic as the labour force shrunk by 4.3 million workers compared to pre-pandemic levels.
The Indian market is also having a festive season with many consumer durables stocks including Havells, Bluestarco moving up for the last many weeks.
Green Investing Looks to Clean Up the Maritime Industry
Sustainable investing has been gaining traction as indicated by Seaspan Corp, the world’s largest containership lessor, selling blue bonds worth nearly $1 billion. These blue bonds are issued in the promise of funding vessels that will lower emissions and pollution at sea and are derived from the concept of green bonds which seek to fund environment positive initiatives.
The first blue bond was headed by the country Seychelles and World Bank, raising $15 million. The increase in investors due to such environmentally-friendly objectives should ideally reduce the borrowing costs for the companies. But there is no guarantee that the funds are being directed to the promised projects.
China slows down with a weak GDP growth of 4.9% in third-quarter
China’s GDP grew only 4.9% in the third quarter from a year ago compared to the expected 5.2% as reported by the National Bureau of Statistics. Industrial production did not reach the expected 4.5% mark and grew only by 3.1% in September. The power and shortage and rise in coal prices which led to many factories shutting down production is believed to have affected the growth. Data also reveals the hesitation of businesses to invest in future projects. On a positive note, retail sales beat expectations crossing the predicted 3.3% growth to hit a 4.4% growth.
Geely’s Volvo Cars Gets Ready For Listing
Volvo Cars, owned by Geely said on Monday its Initial Public Offering(IPO) is priced within a range of 53 to 68 Swedish crowns(Rs 461-591) per share, with a valuation up to $23 billion(Rs 1,73,220 crores)and is expected to be one Europe’s biggest listings this year. The maker of models such as the high-end XC-90 SUV is expecting to raise $2.9 billion(Rs 21,800 crores) through the listing. At the time of writing Geely Holding is up by nearly 2%.
Oil prices climb to highest in years with COVID recovery
Brent crude oil futures reached the highest price since October 2018, rising by 1% to hit $85.73 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose by 1.4% reaching $83.40, the highest ever since October 2014. The rise in oil prices takes place as oil and diesel seem cheaper compared to gas and coal. Expect higher petrol prices in India also soon!
