>>> Brantano receives interest from multiple parties after Macintosh bankruptcy

Brantano receives interest from multiple parties after Macintosh bankruptcy
More than 10 parties are interested in acquiring the Brantano footwear chain, according to its Director Stefaan van Weyenbergh, who was interviewed by De Tijd. Brantano, which operates 129 footwear stores across Belgium, according to the report, is part of the Dutch Macintosh holding company which was declared bankrupt yesterday.

Concrete talks are ongoing, Van Weyenbergh said, which should yield results within two weeks. According to the report, some candidates are only interested in Brantano, while others have also shown an interest in acquiring other Macintosh-owned footwear stores.

Macintosh did not request suspension of payments for Brantano, the report added, which can be seen as a sign of confidence, according to Van Weyenbergh. For other Netherlands-based Macintosh-businesses, suspension of payments was granted by a court last week.

Van Weyenbergh told De Tijd he expects Brantano to be able to make it on its own through January, but by February things would get more difficult. However, by then there should be a buyer, he told the newspaper.

Overall, Van Weyenbergh is optimistic, according to the newspaper. He has confidence in the parties who have come forward, some of these businesses are investment funds, while others are already engaged in the footwear business, he told De Tijd reporters. Some of the interested parties possess a lot of money, Van Weyenberg said, which would be necessary for investments in upgrading its strores, so as to guarantee future survival of the brand, he added.

Last year Brantano had a turnover of EUR 151.8m, the report added.

De Tijd

>>> Asian Update

Asian Mid-session Update: Korea CPI rises to 16 month highs but remains below BOK target; CNY use in international transactions on the rise

***Economic Data***
- (AU) AUSTRALIA NOV PRIVATE SECTOR CREDIT M/M: 0.4% V 0.6%E; Y/Y: 6.6% V 6.8%E
- (KR) SOUTH KOREA DEC CPI M/M: 0.3% V 0.1%E; Y/Y: 1.3% (highest since Aug 2014) V 1.1%E; CPI CORE Y/Y: 2.4% V 2.4% PRIOR
- (SG) Singapore Nov M2 Money Supply Y/Y: 2.9% v 2.9% prior; M1 Money Supply Y/Y: -0.4% v -1.1% prior
- (UK) Weekly John Lewis Partnership LFL sales w/e Dec 26th: +2.3%

***Index Snapshot (as of 04:30 GMT)***
- Nikkei225 closed, S&P/ASX -0.2%, Kospi closed; Shanghai Composite -0.6%, Hang Seng +0.2%, Mar S&P500 +0.1% at 2,056

***Commodities/Fixed Income***
- Feb gold +0.2% at $1,062/oz, Feb crude oil +0.3% at $36.70/brl, Mar copper fat at $2.15/lb
- (CN) PBoC does not conduct open market operations in today's session; PBoC Drains CNY60B in the week through open market operations vs injected CNY30B last week; 2015 net injection CNY10B v CNY124B in 2014
- USD/CNY: (CN) PBoC sets yuan mid point at 6.4936 v 6.4895 prior; lowest setting since June 2011
- SWIFT: CNY use in international transactions rose to 2.3% of total in Nov v 1.9% prior

***Market Focal Points/FX***
- Asia's key equity indices were either closed for extended New Year's holidays or went out after a half day of generally listless action. Australia's ASX was down modestly on the day, closing 2015 off by nearly 2%. Hang Seng is also finished for 2015, rising marginally but falling over 7% for the year - the biggest annual loss since 2011. USD/JPY retreated 20pip below 120.40 from the highs, EUR/USD was in a 20pip band above 1.0915, and AUD/USD tested above the 0.73 handle with a 30+ pip advance from the lows. PBoC Yuan fix was again set at the weakest levels since 2011, as markets look to extended onshore trading session beginning next year.

- In economic data, South Korea CPI came in at a 16-month high of 1.3% y/y and core CPI was unchanged from the prior month. Also while the magnitude of annualized increase was unexpected, it was still well below the new BOK target of 2.0%. For 2015, y/y Korean CPI averaged just 0.7% - a record low. Bank of Korea gov Lee delivered his New Years address, pledging to maintain accommodative monetary policy next year amid rising household debt levels that poses a risk to the financial system. Lee said the central bank will work with authorities to curb household debt growth. In Australia, November private sector credit growth rates were below expectations, but December data on banking loan balances from APRA showed a bit of a bounce in sequential growth at +0.8% m/m. Mining names SFR and EVN were the worst performers on the ASX with declines of over 4%, while TPI, SYR, and ASB were up over 4%.

- In China, SWIFT's data showed the use of CNY in international transactions rose to 2.3% of total in Nov v 1.9% prior. CNY is making incremental progress in international use but still trails the majors - USD (42.7%), EUR (29.5%), GBP (8.9%), and JPY (2.7%). Separately, PBoC has deferred on further open market operations, and its overall 2015 net injection has come to a paltry CNY10B v CNY124B in 2014. Elsewhere, a researcher with the Commerce Ministry expressed confidence that inflation has bottomed and will not fall below 1% in 2016. Recall the latest CPI data in early Dec came in at 1.5%, moving off the 6-month lows. December figures will be released on Jan 8th.

***Equities***
US equities / ADRs:
- CHLN: Stockholders approve proposed 1-for-50,000 reverse stock split; Company to go private; +7.4% afterhours
- CMRX: Point72 Asset Management (Steve Cohen) discloses passive 5.3% stake - 13G filing; +3.8% afterhours
- VOD (+1.3% afterhours): Said to be in new merger talks with Liberty Global (+3.9% afterhours) with estimated value of £140B; Talks may take place in early 2016 - UK press
- TOSBF (Toshiba 6502.JP): Japan govt investment fund Innovation Network Corp. of Japan (INCJ) plans to support overhaul of electronics and other business units - Nikkei; +5.6%

>>> US Close Dow-0.66% S&P-0.72% Nasdaq-0.82% Russell-0.92%

Closing Market Summary: Oil Concerns Lead Market Lower 

The major indices ended Wednesday on a negative note after the market faced substantial selling pressure into the close with all the major indices settling near their lows. Despite the retreat today, the S&P 500 (-0.7%) was able to stay in positive territory for the year (+0.2%). The benchmark index outperformed the tech-heavy Nasdaq (-0.8%), which narrowed its 2015 advance to 7.0%.

Equity indices slipped into the open after overnight selling pressure in oil drove the commodity below the $37.00/bbl price level. This price action came after the American Petroleum Institute reported that crude stockpiles rose by 2.9 million barrels versus a decrease of 3.6 million barrels last week. An hour after the open, the Energy Information Administration disclosed a build of 2.629 million barrels on their weekly crude inventory report versus an expected draw of 2.457 million barrels. The commodity fell 2.9% on the day, ending at $36.80/bbl.

Accordingly, the commodity-sensitive energy (-1.5%) and materials (-1.0%) sectors posted the largest losses while utilities (-0.2%), consumer staples (-0.4%), healthcare (-0.5%), industrials (-0.8%), technology (-0.8%), consumer discretionary (-0.8%), and financials (-0.8%) outperformed.

In the energy space, large-components Exxon Mobil (XOM 78.11, -1.05) and Chevron (CVX 90.09, -1.16) kept pace with the decline in the broader sector, while pipeline and equipment companies such as Kinder Morgan (KMI 14.54, -0.56) lead the losses thanks to a corresponding drop in natural gas. The other energy component declined 5.3% today and ended at $2.25/MMbtu.

Elsewhere, in the health care group (-0.5%), the influential sector was helped by large-cap components Merck & Co. (MRK 53.22, -0.09) and AbbVie, Inc. (ABBV 59.80, +0.35) as the two helped the sector stay ahead of the broader market. Merck lost 0.2% and AbbVie added 0.8%. Meanwhile, biotechnology finished behind the sector, evidenced by a 0.7% decline in iShare Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 340.86, -2.25).

In Treasuries, the benchmark note spent most of its day near its low, but investor participation was well below average, leaving the 10-yr yield unchanged at 2.30%  On a somewhat related note, Puerto Rico's Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla stated that the island will default on a $35.90 million payment due to the Infrastructure Finance Authority and a $1.40 million payment due to its Public Finance Corporation. However, Puerto Rico will pay $328.70 million to settle its general obligations, thus avoiding fallout from defaulting on debt backed by constitutional guarantees.

Once again, today's participation was very light with fewer than 600 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.

It was a quiet day with economic data limited to November Pending Home Sales, which fell 0.9% from a revised increase of 0.4% (from 0.2%) in October. The consensus expected an increase of 0.5% in November.

Tomorrow's economic data includes, weekly Initial (consensus 270,000) and Continuing Claims (consensus 2213k), which will be released at 8:30 ET while the Chicago PMI for December (consensus 50.1) will cross the wires at 9:45 ET.

  • Nasdaq +7.0% YTD
  • S&P 500 +0.2% YTD
  • Dow Jones -1.2% YTD
  • Russell 2000 -4.7% YTD