Morning Briefing: GDP data awaited, world markets mixed

DP data awaited, world markets mixed

As Canada awaits the latest GDP data, world markets are weighing regional data and a continued slide for oil prices overnight.

Politics is also in focus with London’s FTSE rattled in early trading by a new poll suggesting the ruling Conservatives may lose their majority, increasing potential for a coalition of Labour and possibly the Scottish Nationalists. The FTSE has since rebounded but the pound has dipped.

Elsewhere in Europe, analysts and investors are considering weaker-than-expected inflation for the Eurozone, and weaker German retail data. Markets are generally trending higher though.

In Asia, Chinese manufacturing and non-manufacturing PMI indexes gained by more than forecast and there was strong data from Japan and New Zealand. Most indexes closed higher with Japan and Hong Kong slipping.

Wall Street and Toronto are expected to open flat. Canadian GDP and US pending home sales data are due.
 

	Latest	1 month ago	1 year ago
North America (previous session)
US Dow Jones	21,029.47 (-0.24 per cent)	+0.42 per cent	+18.23 per cent
TSX Composite	15,372.35 (-0.32 per cent)	-1.37 per cent	+9.29 per cent
Europe (at 5.00am ET)
UK FTSE	7,549.25 (+0.30 per cent)	+4.79 per cent	+21.16 per cent
German DAX	12,607.66 (+0.07 per cent)	+1.36 per cent	+22.85 per cent
Asia (at close)
China CSI 300	3,492.88 (+0.36 per cent)	+1.54 per cent	+14.05 per cent
Japan Nikkei	19,650.57 (-0.14 per cent)	+2.36 per cent	+14.02 per cent
Other Data (at 5.00am ET)
Oil (Brent)	Oil (WTI)	Gold	Can. Dollar
50.90 (-1.81 per cent)	48.85 (-1.63 per cent)	1266.20 (+0.04 per cent)	U$0.7434
			Aus. Dollar
			U$0.7452

Goldman Sachs investment leads to Venezuelan uproar

An investment by Goldman Sachs has caused considerable unrest in Venezuela.

The bonds issued by the country’s national oil company Pdvsa were bought by Goldman for $2.8 billion, a 70 per cent discount to the market price.

The New York Times reports that investors are betting that the Venezuelan government will opt to pay bondholders in preference to importing essential supplies for its people.

Opposition forces are protesting on the streets of the country and 60 people are reported to have died in clashes. The opposition leader, Julio Borges, has written to Goldman Sachs’s CEO accusing the bank of trying to make a “quick buck off the suffering of the Venezuelan people.”

Goldman Sachs says that it bought the bonds on the secondary market and has not dealt with the Venezuelan government.