Israel stocks higher at close of trade; TA 25 up 0.09%

Stock market

Israel stocks were higher after the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Real Estate and Insurance sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Tel Aviv, the TA 25 rose 0.09%.

The best performers of the session on the TA 25 were Gazit Globe (TA:GZT), which rose 4.34% or 166 points to trade at 3987 at the close. Meanwhile, Ormat Technologies(TA:ORA) added 2.21% or 400 points to end at 18480 and Avner L (TA:AVNRp) was up 1.90% or 4.8 points to 258.0 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Perrigo (TA:PRGO), which fell 1.03% or 360 points to trade at 34480 at the close. OPKO Health Inc (TA:OPK) declined 0.30% or 11 points to end at 3669 and Strauss Group (TA:STRS) was down 0.23% or 14 points to 6076.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange by 229 to 114 and 103 ended unchanged.

Shares in Ormat Technologies (TA:ORA) rose to all time highs; rising 2.21% or 400 to 18480.

Crude oil for October delivery was up 1.71% or 0.81 to $48.22 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in October rose 1.89% or 0.93 to hit $50.09 a barrel, while the December Gold contract rose 0.16% or 2.15 to trade at $1345.55 a troy ounce.

USD/ILS was down 0.23% to 3.7683, while EUR/ILS fell 0.23% to 4.2661.

The US Dollar Index was down 0.16% at 94.37.

Source by Investing.com

U.S. natural gas climbs to 2-week high with warm weather in focus

Commodities

U.S. natural gas futures rose for the second day in a row on Tuesday, as forecasts for warmer than normal temperatures across most parts of the continental U.S. in the days ahead boosted demand expectations for the cooling fuel.

Natural gas for delivery in September on the New York Mercantile Exchange touched an intraday peak of $2.740 per million British thermal units, the most since August 9.

It was last at $2.722 by 10:35AM ET (14:35GMT), up 4.3 cents, or 1.61%.

On Monday, futures soared 9.5 cents, or 3.68%, as traders reacted to forecasts for scorching heat across most of the country through September 5.

According to AccuWeather, the high in Washington DC on September 1 is expected to be 87 degrees Fahrenheit (31 Celsius), three more than normal.

Demand for natural gas tends to rise in the summer months as warmer temperatures increase the need for gas-fired electricity to power air conditioning.

Meanwhile, market players looked ahead to weekly supply data due on Thursday, which is expected to show a build of approximately 24 billion cubic feet.

That compares with a gain of 22 billion cubic feet in the preceding week, 67 billion a year earlier and a five-year average of 66 billion cubic feet.

Total U.S. natural gas storage currently stands at 3.339 trillion cubic feet, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 10.9% higher than levels at this time a year ago and 13.8% above the five-year average for this time of year.

Natural gas futures have recently been under heavy selling pressure amid speculation that August heat won’t prevent stockpiles from reaching a record before the winter.

Unless intense summer heat boosts demand from power plants, stockpiles will test physical storage limits of 4.3 trillion cubic feet at the end of October.

Source by Investing.com

Dollar remains broadly lower in quiet trade

Forex

The dollar remained broadly lower against the other major currencies on Tuesday, as investors remained cautious ahead of Friday’s speech y Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.

Market participants are waiting to see if Yellen will restate the hawkish view of the economy expressed by Fed officials in recent weeks or echo the minutes of the Fed’s July meeting, which indicated that officials are divided on when to raise rates.

The dollar moved broadly higher after Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer said on Sunday that inflation is within “hailing distance” of the bank’s 2% target.

The comments came after speeches last week from San Francisco Fed head John Williams and New York Fed chief William Dudley indicating that the central bank thinks the economy is strong.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported on Tuesday that new home sales jumped by 12.4% to 654,000 units last month, compared to expectations for a 2.0% decline.

New home sales in June were revised down to 582,000 units, or a 1.7% gain, from the prior reading of a 3.5% increase to 592,000 units.

EUR/USD was steady at 1.1325, off session highs of 1.1355 after research group Markit reported that Germany’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index slipped to a two-month low of 53.6 in August from 53.8 the previous month, confounding expectations for a slip to 53.5.

Germany’s services PMI fell to a 15-month low of 53.3 this month from 54.4 in July, compared to expectations for an unchanged reading.

Markit also said that the French manufacturing PMI ticked down to 48.5 in August from 48.6 last month, compared to expectations for a rise to 48.8.

The French services PMI rose to 52.0 this month from 50.5 in July, beating expectations for an unchanged reading.

For the entire euro zone, the composite PMI, which measures the combined output of both the manufacturing and service sectors ticked up to 53.3 in August from 53.2 in July, compared to expectations for a slip to 53.1.

GBP/USD gained 0.36% to trade at 1.3182.

USD/JPY slipped 0.20% to 100.12, while USD/CHF fell 0.21% to 0.9606.

Sentiment on the yen remained fragile after Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda saidover the weekend that there is a “sufficient chance” the central bank will implement additional easing measures at next month’s policy meeting.

The Australian and New Zealand dollars were stronger, with AUD/USD up 0.30% at 0.7643 and with NZD/USD advancing 0.70% to 0.7323.

The New Zealand dollar strengthened after Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Wheeler said the bank’s current interest rate policy involves further monetary easing measures but he said he did not see the need for a rapid series of rate cuts.

Elsewhere, USD/CAD shed 0.31% to 1.2907.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.14% at 94.38.

Source by Investing.com

Best Buy profit beats estimates; shares surge

Business

Best Buy Co Inc (N:BBY) reported a much higher-than-expected quarterly profit on strength in health and wearable items like smartwatches, and the largest U.S. electronics retailer raised its earnings outlook, sending its shares up nearly 16 percent.

The results bucked a string of weak performances in the electronics category by competitors like Target Corp (N:TGT) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc (N:WMT).

Best Buy said demand rose for items like home theater systems, major appliances and computing products, as well as smartwatches, but declined for mobile phones and gaming.

Chief Executive Officer Hubert Joly said he expected mobile phone sales to increase this quarter and next as scheduled product introductions draw consumers.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Inc's long-awaited iPhone 7 is set for availability next month. Last week, Target blamed its poor performance in part on lower demand for electronics due to a drop in demand for Apple products.

Best Buy's online sales as a percentage of domestic revenue increased to 10.6 percent from 8.6 percent in the second quarter ended on July 30, helped by faster shipping and improvements in the checkout process and search functionality, Joly said.

Excluding special items, earnings of 57 cents per share beat the analysts' average forecast of 43 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Sales at established stores rose 0.8 percent from a year earlier. Analysts had expected a 0.60 percent decline, according to research firm Consensus Metrix.

Best Buy said it expected low-single-digit percentage growth in fiscal-year operating income, compared with a previous forecast of "approximately flat" results.

The company gave a third-quarter profit and revenue outlook roughly in line with analysts' estimates.

Revenue rose slightly to $8.53 billion in the second quarter, snapping a three-quarter streak of declines. Analysts on average had expected $8.40 billion.

Net income increased 20.7 percent to $198 million from $164 million.

International revenue declined 1 percent but rose 4.1 percent on a currency-neutral basis.

Source by Reuters

Mobileye, Delphi aim to release self-driving system in 2019

Business

A new technology partnership between top auto suppliers Mobileye NV (N:MBLY) and Delphi Automotive Plc (N:DLPH) could pull ahead production of self-driving cars to late 2019, executives of both companies said Tuesday.

Mobileye, a key supplier of vision-based sensing systems, and Delphi, a provider of automotive safety systems, said they plan to begin testing a jointly developed turn-key system for self-driving cars early next year.

Mobileye's U.S.-listed shares were up 6.6 percent at $49.71 in early trading, while Delphi's shares rose 3 percent to $67.04.

Both companies supply parts and systems to many of the world's automakers, but declined to say if they had specific customers for their jointly developed self-driving system.

The Mobileye/Delphi alliance is the latest in a series of partnerships aimed at speeding deployment of automated driving systems.

In the past week, Ford Motor Co (N:F) said it plans to begin selling self-driving vehicles to commercial ride-sharing fleets in 2021 and has acquired a stake in Velodyne, a maker of laser-based lidar sensing systems.

Ride services giant Uber Technologies Inc last week said it had acquired self-driving truck startup Otto and planned to partner this fall with Geely Automobile's (HK:0175) Volvo Cars on a test fleet of self-driving cars in Pittsburgh.

Other large automakers, notably Toyota Motor Corp (T:7203), Volkswagen AG (DE:VOWG_p) and General Motors Co (N:GM), are developing self-driving vehicles in-house.

Mobileye and Delphi plan to invest "hundreds of millions of dollars" in their self-driving system, which will combine hardware and software developed by both companies. The system will employ an array of sensors, including cameras, radar and lidar, and will have high-resolution mapping ability.

The two companies said their technology would cater to smaller automakers that may not necessarily want to develop their own self-driving systems.

Mobileye earlier this year announced a self-driving vehicle partnership with German automaker BMW AG (DE:BMWG) and U.S. chipmaker Intel Corp (O:INTC), aimed at production in 2021.

Mobileye Chairman Amnon Shashua on Tuesday said the new alliance with Delphi will be "complementary" to the BMW/Intel deal and that BMW had not selected a supplier for its planned self-driving system and components.

Shashua also said "we are not changing our minds" about Mobileye's recent decision to end a partnership with Tesla Motors Inc (O:TSLA).

Mobileye cut its ties with Tesla last month after the electric carmaker's Autopilot system faced scrutiny from regulators following a fatal accident in early May. Tesla's Autopilot system uses EyeQ chips from Mobileye to help with image analysis for steering and staying in lanes.

Delphi and Mobileye said they will demonstrate their autonomous driving system in urban and highway driving at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January 2017 and begin road testing soon after that.

Source by Reuters

India stocks higher at close of trade; Nifty 50 up 0.04%

Stock market

India stocks were higher after the close on Tuesday, as gains in the IT,Technology and Banking sectors led shares higher.

At the close in NSE, the Nifty 50 gained 0.04%, while the BSE Sensex 30 index added 0.02%.

The best performers of the session on the Nifty 50 were Idea Cellular Ltd (NS:IDEA), which rose 6.88% or 6.50 points to trade at 101.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Bank Of Baroda (NS:BOB) added 2.66% or 4.25 points to end at 164.30 and HCL Technologies Ltd (NS:HCLT) was up 2.43% or 18.75 points to 791.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (NS:BHEL), which fell 4.86% or 7.00 points to trade at 136.90 at the close. Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (NS:BPCL) declined 3.58% or 21.40 points to end at 576.10 and Tata Power Co. Ltd (NS:TTPW) was down 2.92% or 2.25 points to 74.80.

The top performers on the BSE Sensex 30 were Infosys Ltd (BO:INFY) which rose 2.35% to 1039.25, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (BO:TCS) which was up 2.03% to settle at 2603.20 and Bharti Airtel Ltd (BO:BRTI) which gained 0.96% to close at 353.55.

The worst performers were Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BO:BHEL) which was down 4.60% to 136.95 in late trade, Tata Power Co. Ltd (BO:TTPW) which lost 3.24% to settle at 74.75 and NTPC Limited (BO:NTPC) which was down 2.90% to 158.80 at the close.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the India National Stock Exchange by 782 to 667 and 80 ended unchanged; on the Bombay Stock Exchange, 839 fell and 760 advanced, while 72 ended unchanged.

The India Vix, which measures the implied volatility of Nifty 50 options, was down 2.37% to 13.8975.

Gold for December delivery was down 0.01% or 0.15 to $1343.25 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in October fell 1.10% or 0.52 to hit $46.89 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract fell 1.18% or 0.58 to trade at $48.58 a barrel.

USD/INR was down 0.21% to 67.055, while EUR/INR fell 0.10% to 75.9870.

The US Dollar Index was down 0.15% at 94.38.

Source by Investing.com

VW, suppliers settle dispute after marathon talks

Business

Volkswagen and two of its parts suppliers on Tuesday resolved a contract dispute that had hit output at more than half of the carmaker's German plants and threatened to undermine its recovery from a diesel emissions scandal.

After more than 20 hours of negotiations that went on through the night, VW said it had settled its differences with CarTrim, which makes seats, and ES Automobilguss, which produces cast iron parts needed to make gearboxes, but gave no further details. The suppliers confirmed an agreement had been reached.

The conflict had threatened VW's profitability following last year's diesel emissions test cheating scandal and also risked hurting hundreds of other VW suppliers.

The suppliers were seeking compensation for lost revenue they said ran into tens of millions of euros after VW canceled a contract.

The dispute affected about 28,000 workers at six of VW's 10 German factories on Monday when the automaker halted production of the top-selling Golf and Passat models, as well as assembly of engines, gearboxes and emissions systems.

VW said on Tuesday that the suppliers had agreed to start delivering parts again and that the affected plants would gradually resume production.

Faced with billions of euros of costs from its emissions scandal, VW had previously indicated it would seek price cuts from its suppliers.

Lower Saxony Economy Minister Olaf Lies, a member of VW's supervisory board, has said the dispute was hitting VW "at the worst possible time". Whether VW management should face questions for over-reliance on single suppliers needs to be clarified, he added.

Analysts at UBS estimated that a one-week production halt at VW's Wolfsburg headquarters would result in about 100 million euros ($113 million) in lost gross profit, and could have knock-on effects on other suppliers.

OTHER SUPPLIERS SUFFER

Pressure had been growing on both sides to resolve the dispute, with Germany's economy ministry warning of the broader impact on jobs.

Five hundred companies that supply parts for the Golf were being forced to build up inventories because the carmaker was not buying, according to the German Association of Supply Chain Management, Procurement and Logistics.

In addition, VW's customers face delays in the delivery of new cars, which could prompt them to cancel purchase contracts and switch to other brands.

"The consequences for the entire supply chain are already considerable today," Christoph Feldmann, managing director of the association, said in a statement.

While the disruption may keep workers at home, there could be a silver lining for VW in limiting Golf output. The automaker had already canceled Golf production shifts on October 4-7 and December 19-22 due to falling demand.

VW said the stoppages were part of regular production adjustments.

"Given the slowdown of VW sales (excluding China), the brand certainly needs to slightly trim production levels," said London-based Evercore ISI analyst Arndt Ellinghorst.

Source by Reuters

Goldman Sachs reiterates oil forecast but warns outlook ‘tenuous’

Commodities

Goldman Sachs warned that the recent rally in oil prices was not based on fundamentals and played down recent hopes that an agreement between members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) would be able to sustain current prices.

"While oil prices have rebounded sharply since August 1, we believe this move has not been driven by incrementally better oil fundamentals, but instead by headlines around a potential output freeze as well as a sharp weakening of the dollar," Goldman said in a note to clients dated August 22.

Hopes that OPEC may come to an agreement to stabilize the market in informal talks to be held on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum in Algeria on September 26-28 helped oil enter a bull market with prices up more than 20% through last Friday.

“We are, in Saudi Arabia, watching the market closely, and if there is a need to take any action to help the market rebalance, then we would, of course in cooperation with OPEC and major non-OPEC exporters,” the country’s energy minister Al-Falih said on August 11.

Goldman remained skeptical about the effectiveness of such a freeze, which could become “self-defeating” as higher prices incentivized increased output elsewhere.

"Thawing relationships between parties in conflict in areas of disrupted production would be more relevant to the oil rebalancing than an OPEC freeze, which would leave production at record highs," these analysts said.

"A production freeze would also likely prove self-defeating if it succeeded in supporting oil prices further, with the US oil rig count up 28% since May," they added.

These experts also noted that Saudi Arabia and Iran continued to focus on market share, making it unlikely for a unilaterally accepted freeze, even while disruptions in supply from Nigeria, Iraq and Libya appeared to be easing.

"Given the large uncertainty on the timing, magnitude and duration of such supply shifts, we continue to view oil as having to price near-term fundamentals with a lower emphasis on the more uncertain longer-term fundamentals," they affirmed.

Goldman further downplayed the effectiveness of a production freeze because “even if flows fail to materially increase in each country, we reiterate our view that the oil price recovery is tenuous.”

The firm reiterated its forecast for Brent to remain between $45 and $50 through to next summer, but pointed to the downside in their own expectations for West Texas, warning that if easing of supply disruptions rebounded by 500,000 barrels more than they currently estimate, they would likely slash their 2017 forecast for U.S. crude to $45, from the current $52.5.

U.S. crude futures tumbled 1.08% to $46.90 by 10:14AM GMT, or 6:14AM ET, on Tuesday, while Brent oil slumped 1.10% to $48.62.

Source by Investing.com

Dollar slips lower as focus turns to Yellen

Forex

The dollar slipped lower against the other major currencies on Tuesday, as investors became more cautious ahead of Friday’s speech y Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.

Market participants are hoping Ms. Yellen will give further indications on the timing of future rate hikes.

The dollar moved broadly higher after San Francisco Federal Reserve President John Williams late last week signaled support for a September rate increase.

EUR/USD was up 0.11% at 1.1332, off session highs of 1.1355 after research group Markit reported that Germany’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index slipped to a two-month low of 53.6 in August from 53.8 the previous month, confounding expectations for a slip to 53.5.

Germany’s services PMI fell to a 15-month low of 53.3 this month from 54.4 in July, compared to expectations for an unchanged reading.

Markit also said that the French manufacturing PMI ticked down to 48.5 in August from 48.6 last month, compared to expectations for a rise to 48.8.

The French services PMI rose to 52.0 this month from 50.5 in July, beating expectations for an unchanged reading.

For the entire euro zone, the composite PMI, which measures the combined output of both the manufacturing and service sectors ticked up to 53.3 in August from 53.2 in July, compared to expectations for a slip to 53.1.

GBP/USD gained 0.36% to traede at 1.3181.

USD/JPY slipped 0.15% to 100.17, while USD/CHF eased 0.09% to 0.9616.

However, sentiment on the yen remained fragile after Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said over the weekend that there is a “sufficient chance” the central bank will implement additional easing measures at next month’s policy meeting.

The Australian and New Zealand dollars were stronger, with AUD/USD up 0.28% at 0.7641 and with NZD/USD advancing 0.71% to 0.7324.

The New Zealand dollar strengthened after Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Wheeler said the bank’s current interest rate policy involves further monetary easing measures but he said he did not see the need for a rapid series of rate cuts.

Elsewhere, USD/CAD shed 0.26% to 1.2912.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.17% at 94.36.

Source by Investing.com

Sharp to review TV licensing deals to boost global presence

Technology

Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp said Tuesday it will review its TV brand licensing deals overseas in an effort to boost its global presence under the aegis of Taiwan's Foxconn.

"We have decided to review our current brand licensing business in Europe and Americas, and are currently examining various possibilities," Sharp said in a statement.

The comment follows a report by the Yomiuri newspaper that Sharp will dispatch officials next month for negotiations to buy back its TV business in the United States and Europe.

Sharp effectively exited the money-losing TV business in those markets and licensed its brand to China's Hisense Group in the Americas and to Universal Media Corp Slovakia in Europe.

The withdrawal from the money-losing TV business abroad helped Sharp trim its losses in April-June.

But Sharp now believes that it can make profits out of the TV business by taking advantage of Foxconn's procurement power in the supply chain and its vast network of clients, the Yomiuri said.

Foxconn, known formally as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, is the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer whose clients include Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), Sony Corp (T:6758) and many other major international companies.

Source by Reuters

Swiss Trade Balance 2.930B vs. 3.790B forecast

Economic Indicators

Switzerland’s trade balance fell unexpectedly last month, official data showed on Tuesday.

In a report, Federal Statistical Office said that Swiss Trade Balance fell to a seasonally adjusted 2.930B, from 3.510B in the preceding month whose figure was revised up from 3.510B.

Analysts had expected Swiss Trade Balance to rise to 3.790B last month.

Source by Investing.com

Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.64%

Stock market

Australia stocks were higher after the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Healthcare, Financials and Utilities sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.64%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Bellamys Australia Ltd(AX:BAL), which rose 5.21% or 0.740 points to trade at 14.930 at the close. Meanwhile, Whitehaven Coal Ltd (AX:WHC) added 4.28% or 0.080 points to end at 1.950 and IPH Ltd(AX:IPH) was up 3.96% or 0.220 points to 5.770 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Monadelphous Group Ltd (AX:MND), which fell 17.20% or 1.880 points to trade at 9.050 at the close. Worleyparsons Ltd (AX:WOR) declined 5.65% or 0.520 points to end at 8.680 and Syrah Res F (AX:SYR) was down 4.71% or 0.210 points to 4.250.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 549 to 542 and 337 ended unchanged.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 2.20% to 12.724.

Gold for December delivery was down 0.07% or 0.95 to $1342.45 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in October fell 1.05% or 0.50 to hit $46.91 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract fell 0.85% or 0.42 to trade at $48.74 a barrel.

AUD/USD was up 0.29% to 0.7642, while AUD/JPY rose 0.10% to 76.53.

The US Dollar Index was down 0.17% at 94.36.

Source by Investing.com