Showing posts with label Results. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Results. Show all posts

Tuesday, 8 November 2016

GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks, Mexican peso advance ahead of U.S. election results

Dear Viewers,

NEW YORK Global equity markets climbed and the Mexican peso rallied on Tuesday as investors leaned toward the potential victory of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the U.S. presidential election.

Markets turned higher after treading water for the early portion of the session, although U.S. equities retreated from their session highs.

While the dollar strengthened slightly against a basket of currencies, the Mexican peso shot to a two-month high versus the greenback.

The Mexican currency has been a market proxy for sentiment over the U.S. election and has performed in inverse correlation with Republican candidate Donald Trump's perceived chances of winning the White House. The iShares MSCI Mexico ETF, touched its highest level since mid-August and was last up 2.2 percent.

Mexico is considered most vulnerable to Trump's planned trade policies as 80 percent of its exports go to the United States.

Market participants cited projections from data firm Votecastr, which showed Clinton in the lead in several battleground states.

"The Votecastr thing is absolutely helping the market move higher," said Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group. "Investors will take whatever data they can get, although I really don’t know how accurate the data is."

The market has been pricing in a win for Clinton, including a 2 percent jump in the S&P 500 on Monday after the FBI maintained its view that no criminal charges were warranted in a probe over her email practices.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 70.29 points, or 0.38 percent, to 18,329.89, the S&P 500 gained 6.1 points, or 0.29 percent, to 2,137.62 and the Nasdaq Composite added 20.03 points, or 0.39 percent, to 5,186.20.

Safety play gold weakened, down 0.3 percent to $1,276.65 an ounce and yields on U.S. Treasuries touched a one-week high.

At the end of a bruising election campaign, the Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation poll gave Clinton a 90 percent chance of defeating Trump and said she was on track to win 303 Electoral College votes out of 270 needed, to Trump's 235.

Europe's index of 300 leading shares, which posted its biggest gain in two months on Monday, closed 0.3 percent higher. MSCI's all-country world index was up 0.4 percent after notching its best day since late June on Monday.

Clinton, generally seen as a known quantity, has been the preferred candidate for investors over political wild card Trump. But markets remained wary, noting Britain's shock vote in June to leave the European Union had caught investors and pollsters off guard.

"I’d be a little hesitant to waive the all clear signal at this point," said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab in Austin, Texas.

Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes fell 11/32 in price to yield 1.8672 percent after touching a high of 1.876 percent, up from Monday's 1.828 percent. Thanks.

Tuesday, 1 November 2016

UPDATE 3-ADM profit jumps on higher U.S. grain exports; shares rise

Dear Viewers,

CHICAGO U.S. agricultural products trader Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM.N) on Tuesday reported a far better-than-expected third-quarter profit on Tuesday as higher U.S. exports of corn and soybeans boosted volumes and margins.

U.S. farmers have nearly completed what is expected to be the largest corn and soybean harvests on record, which should benefit ADM again in the current quarter.

"With improving market conditions and a large U.S. harvest, combined with the team's solid execution capabilities, we feel good about the remainder of the year and a stronger 2017," Chief Executive Officer Juan Luciano said in a statement.

ADM shares were up nearly 4 percent at $45.25 in premarket trading.

Chicago-based ADM makes money buying, selling, storing, transporting and processing grains and oilseeds around the world. Margins are typically thin, but volumes are massive when crop supplies are abundant and prices are low, as they are now.

Export sales of corn and soybeans from the United States were well ahead of the normal pace in the third quarter due to crop shortages in South America.

Net earnings attributable to the company rose to $341 million, or 58 cents per share, in the quarter, from $252 million, or 41 cents, a year earlier.

Revenue fell 4.4 percent to $15.83 billion.

Excluding items, ADM earned 59 cents per share, beating the average analyst estimate of 46 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

ADM's agricultural services unit, its largest in terms of revenue, gained from the shift in export demand to North America, with earnings totaling a net $195 million, up 31 percent from a year earlier.

Although ethanol earnings trailed a year ago, lower corn prices boosted results in corn processing. Adjusted profit in the segment jumped 30 percent to $214 million in the quarter.

ADM said it is expecting final proposals for a deal for its ethanol-producing corn dry mills by the end of 2016. The company is looking to sell or find a partner for the assets amid frustration over a persistent oversupply in the market that has thinned margins for making the biofuel.

Results in the oilseeds processing business were dragged down by weak soy processing margins, reduced South American crop supplies and a steep quarterly loss at Wilmar International Ltd (WLIL.SI). ADM owns about 23 percent of the Singapore-based vegetable oils processor. Thanks