Forex News from InstaForex

[IFX Gertrude]

Wall Street Drops Amid a Rise in Global Bond Yields



U.S. stocks fell on Thursday as technology stocks dropped amid an increase in global bond yields. The S&P 500 market its largest one-day decline since May 17.

In recent week, government bond yields have increased as central banks indicated that the end of monetary stimulus is approaching.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.74 percent to 21,320.04. The S&P 500 fell 0.94 percent to 2,409.75 while the Nasdaq Composite lost one percent to 6,089.46, weighed down by losses in technology and biotech shares.

UnitedHealth, Walt Disney, 3M and Apple added the most pressure on the Dow.

Energy closed 1.8 percent lower as the second-worst performer in the S&P 500. Shares of Newfield Exploration, Apache and Noble Energy were among the largest decliners.

Consumer-discretionary shares fell one percent in the S&P 500. Victoria's Secret L Brands, which posted a loss in same-store sales for June, tumbling 14% to $46.49.

The S&P 500 health-care sector dropped 1.3 percent. Shares of medical-supplies Patterson Cos fell 6.9 percent to 44.15, reporting its sharpest one-day percentage loss in the sector, after brokerage Stifel Nicolaus downgraded its rating for the stock from hold to sell.

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[IFX Gertrude]

Japan Labor Cash Earnings Rise More Than Forecast



Total labor cash earnings in Japan increased for the second straight month in May, and at a faster-than-expected pace, preliminary report from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare showed Friday.

Gross earnings rose 0.7 percent year-over-year in May, faster than the 0.5 percent climb in April. Economists had expected a 0.4 percent gain for the month.

Contractual gross earnings also grew 0.7 percent annually in May, while special cash earnings dropped by 1.6 percent.

Real cash earnings went up 0.1 percent in May after remaining flat in the preceding month.

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[IFX Gertrude]

Japan Overall Bank Lending +3.3% On Year



Overall bank lending in Japan was up 3.3 percent on year in June, the Bank of Japan said on Monday - standing at 513.772 trillion yen.

That exceeded expectations for a gain of 3.2 percent, which would have been unchanged from the May reading.

Excluding trusts, bank lending also was up an annual 3.3 percent to 446.927 trillion yen. That was unchanged and in line with expectations.

Lending from trusts was up 2.8 percent on year to 66.844 trillion yen after rising 2.9 percent a month earlier.

Lending from foreign banks climbed 9.1 percent to 2.085 trillion yen - slowing from 13.1 percent in May.

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[IFX Gertrude]

Apollo to Acquire ClubCorp for $1.1 billion



Private equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC announced it will acquire ClubCorp Holdings Inc, which is the biggest owners and operators of private golf and country clubs in the United States, for $1.1 billion.

Apollo said it will pay $17.12 a share in cash for ClubCorp, a 30.7 percent premium over its closing price on Friday, but less than the 12-month peak of $17.50, the shares touched in February, on investor expectations that a sale process that was initially posted by Reuters in January will be successful.

Dallas-based ClubCorp also announced a one-time dividend of 13 cents a share that will be paid later this month. It said the sale to Apollo is seen to close in the fourth quarter of this year.

ClubCorp has been a sequential acquirer in the golf industry, as it bought dozens of courses in the last three years. KSL Capital, another private equity firm, procured ClubCorp for $1.8 billion in October 2006 and took it in public in 2013.

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[IFX Gertrude]

PETROBRAS: Company To Sell Fuel Distribution Assets In Paraguay



Petrobras intends to sell its stake in companies that distribute and sell fuels, cooking gas and lubricants in Paraguay. Ita? BBA was hired to be the financial advisor of the potential divestment.

The transaction will involve the subsidiaries Petrobras Paraguay Distribuci?n Limited, Petrobras Paraguay Operations and Logistics and Petrobras Paraguay Gas.

Petrobras, through the companies listed above, has a network of 197 service stations and 113 convenience stores and is also present in the aviation sector, operating in three airports. The company is also the largest fuel distributor in the country. Regarding logistics, it owns a distribution terminal, in the city of Villa Elisa.

According to the company, the fuel distribution assets it owns in Paraguay were purchased from Shell and had their brand image improved since then.

Petrobras will accept offers from distributors with at least 50 stations operating in Paraguay, or with consolidated revenues of at least US$ 200 million. Trading companies can also bid for the assets, as long as they have at least one representative office in South America and reported net revenue of at least US$ 200 million per year.

The companies invited by Petrobras to buy the assets should show interest in the transaction until July 24.

In June, Petrobras said that it would start a divestment process to sell 30 assets until the end of this year, and added that it would disclose half of those assets in the next three months.

The assets are part of a US$ 21 billion sale plan for 2017 and 2018. According to Pedro Parente, Petrobras, chairman, the Pasadena Refinery, in the United States, will be among these assets.

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[IFX Gertrude]

British Consumers Spend More on Essentials as Inflation Climbs



UK consumers spent more money on food and other essentials in June but cut back on less urgent purchases amid growing prices, according to two sets of industry figures.

Payments firm Barclaycard said year-on-year consumer spending growth softened to a 15-month low of 2.5 percent in June from 2.8 percent in May, while spending on household goods and entertainment also slowed.

According to the British Retail Consortium, its gauge of retail spending growth climbed to 2.0 percent in June from 0.2 percent in May, above its average of 1.4 percent in the previous six months.

However, BRC's chief executive, Helen Dickinson, said the pick-up emulated a temporary boost from warmer weather lifting clothing sales, along with the higher costs of food.

On a like-for-like basis, the BRC said sales rose by 1.4 percent year-on-year following a 0.4 percent decline in May.

Both figures from Barclaycard and BRC are not adjusted for inflation, which is running at an almost four-year peak of 2.9 percent as stated in the consumer price index. Therefore, the contribution of consumer spending to second-quarter economic growth could be limited.

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[IFX Gertrude]

Australia Consumer Confidence Rebounds In July - Westpac



Consumer confidence in Australia saw a positive bounce in July, the latest survey from Westpac Bank showed on Wednesday - advancing 0.4 percent to a score of 96.6.

That follows the 1.8 percent decline in June to a reading of 96.2.

The July reading snapped three months of decline.

The index is not sending encouraging signals about the outlook for consumer spending, the bank said.

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[IFX Gertrude]

Amazon.com On Track to Break Sales Record



Amazon.com Inc said its Prime Day sale is poised to be the largest shopping event in its history by sales. The world's biggest online retailer said customers ordered over three times as many Echo-family speakers than the previous year's Prime Day, which at the time broke records for Amazon devices.

Third-party sellers have sold over 50 percent more items on the site by noon compared with the same timeframe in 2016, according to a statement by Amazon.

Analysts estimated the previous year's event had brought in more than $500 million.

The news highlights Amazon's rapid pace of growth as more shoppers ordered online rather than going to stores.

Customers had to join Amazon Prime to get discounts in the 30-hour event. U.S. members of the club pay $99 a year for benefits like two-day shipping, and they tend to buy more goods, more often from Amazon. A timer showing when the deals will expire has encouraged shoppers to buy more.

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[IFX Gertrude]

ARGENTINA: Merval Rises 0.61% Underpinned By Petrobras Brasil



Merval, the benchmark Argentinean stock market index, gained 0.61%, closing at 22,262.64 points, boosted by rising oil prices after data showed a decrease in US inventories.

Petrobras Brasil increased by 4.61% in Buenos Aires after news that Brazilian former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was sentenced to 9 years in prison for corruption.

Marcos Forquera, an analyst at Buenos Aires Valores, said that the stock market had a positive start today, but profit-taking hit a few shares, leading to a weaker rise at the end of the day.

He warned that Merval is near its record high and that market uncertainty is on the rise ahead of the October legislative elections in Argentina, increasing the odds of a sharp correction in the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange.

Meanwhile, the locally traded US dollar fell by 0.30%, to 16.94 Argentinean pesos. According to Fernando Izzo, an analyst at ABC Mercado de Cambio, the decline was a result of lower demand for the greenback and dollar sales from grain exporters.

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[IFX Gertrude]

Dollar Flat After Yellen Statement, Canadian Dollar Held Firm



The dollar was relatively flat early on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen did not deliver a much hawkish tone as many had initially expected. The Canadian dollar held firm near a 13-month peak after the Bank of Canada raised interest rates for the first time since 2010.

The greenback fell as Yellen's comments spurred a sharp drop in U.S. Treasury yields.

The dollar index versus a basket of major currencies was little changed at 95.758 after pulling back to as low as 95.511 the day earlier, its weakest in 12 days.

The U.S. currency edged up 0.2 percent at 113.440 yen after falling nearly 0.7 percent overnight, when it retreated from a four-month peak near 114.495 touched earlier in the week on expectations of U.S.-Japan monetary policy divergence.

The Canadian dollar, also supported by an increase in crude oil prices, was at C$1.2750 a dollar, after rallying over one percent to C$1.2681 overnight, its highest since June 2016.

The BOC increased interest rates for the first time in almost seven years, claiming the economy was no longer in need of as much stimulus.

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