By James Langton
(July 11 – 09:00 ET) – There’s no major economic data out today. In the U.S., wholesale inventories for May are due at 10:00 ET, but the big event will be Fed chairman Alan Greenspan’s speech on structural change in the New Economy at 09:45 ET. Analysts will be listening closely for hints on the Fed’s attitude to interest rates.
In Canada housing starts for June were expected to rebound by 5.6% to 150,000 after a slide in May. However they fell another 1.8% to 139,300 units, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Urban singles starts were up 2.3%, urban multiples were down 8.6%. The strike by concrete truck drivers in the Greater Toronto Area is again being blamed for the slide, although the strike ended in mid-June.
In Europe stocks are mixed, techs are down, telecoms are up. London’s FTSE is up just four points to 6,470. U.K. consumer inflation came in up just 0.2% for June, half the rate it grew last month. However on the continent things are uglier. France’s CAC 40 is off 59 points to 6,428. Germany’s DAX has dropped 85 points to 6,986.
The big news in Europe is a proposed telecom merger. Deutsche Telekom AG has offered US$30 billion for VoiceStream Wireless Corp., according to the Financial Times.
CSM NV has agreed to buy Unilever’s European baking goods unit for US$669 million in cash.
Overnight in Asia stocks were mixed. Japan slid, with the Nikkei closing down 68 points to 17,504. The Hang Seng closed up 121 points to 17,359.
In other business news, Call-Net’s president and CEO, Kevin Bennis, has resigned to move back to the U.S. He will remain on Call-Net’s board, and on a consulting basis for an interim period. He has accepted a CEO position with a telecom venture in his home state. A search for his replacement at Call-Net will start immediately. In the interim, Peter Tanaka, a senior member of the board will replace Bennis.