Risk assets got a new lease on life on Friday after the U.S. jobs report for the month of August fell well short of the consensus forecast. Ahead of the jobs report, market participants had been anticipating a rate hike in 2016 itself. But that to a large extend depended upon August’s jobs report.
Job additions of more than 200,000 would have raised the possibility of a rate hike in 2016. In fact, a strong report would have raised the possibility of a rate hike in September. But Friday’s non-farm payrolls data fell short of consensus forecast. As a result, the Federal Reserve is unlikely to hike rates, with only a 20% chance of a September rate hike according to analysts. Following the weak jobs report, there was also weak data on the services sector front. The weak set of data suggests that the U.S. economy is not yet out of the woods.
With the Fed likely to keep rates unchanged, risk assets are expected to continue their rally. Indeed, equities rallied following the weak non-farm payrolls data on Friday. All three major indexes are lower in trading today but the losses are not significant. The S&P TSX, Canada’s benchmark index, has also edged lower.
Although Canadian markets are down today, there are some major gainers. One such gainer is ENPAR Technologies Inc. (TSX-Venture:ENP). Based in Guelph, Ontario, ENPAR is a technology company applying its patented and proprietary "Electrochemical Technologies" to the treatment of waste water, desalination water and drinking water contaminated by metals or nutrients, i.e., nitrate/ammonia associated with the mining, metal processing, chemical, agricultural, municipal and waste management sectors.
ENP shares are gaining momentum after the company announced that it has partnered with a multinational petrochemical services company to facilitate sales of ENPAR's patented electrochemical water treatment systems. ENP noted that over the past two decades, the said company has developed environmentally responsible, innovative, cost effective processes to facilitate the development of progressive solution management practices in the petroleum industry.
Following a successful test program which identified the complementary nature of ENPAR's patented systems, ENPAR received a contract to construct a containerized plant valued at approximately $140,000.
Commenting on the development, Dr. Gene Shelp, President and CEO, said that ENP continues to attract interest from respected international industry players who focus on high-margin niche markets with values ranging from tens to hundreds of millions of dollars globally.
At last check, ENP shares were trading 5% higher at $0.105 on volume of 84,000, which is more than double the daily average volume of 40,190 with shares roughly at their 52-week mid-way point.
