ASIA:
The global economic fallout of the war in Ukraine is expected to negatively impact India’s economy, while the immediate impact of the conflict on China is likely to be relatively small, the IMF said on Thursday. The IMF said it will lead to higher inflation and current account deficit.
The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today:
- NIKKEI 225 increased 174.54 points or 0.65% to 26,827.43
- Shanghai increased 36.03 points or 1.12% to 3,251.07
- Hang Seng decreased 88.83 points or -0.41% to 21.412.40
- ASX 200 increased 43.60 points or 0.60% to 7,294.40
- Kospi increased 12.51 points or 0.46% to 2,707.02
- SENSEX closed
- Nifty50 closed
The major Asian currency markets had a green day today:
- AUDUSD increased 0.00308 or 0.42% to 0.74071
- NZDUSD increased 0.00189 or 0.27% to 0.69041
- USDJPY increased 0.628 or 0.53% to 119.186
- USDCNY increased 0.01003 or 0.16% to 6.37337
Precious Metals:
- Gold decreased 14 USD/t oz. or -0.72% to 1,928.64
- Silver decreased 0.371 USD/t. oz or -1.46% to 24.964
Some economic news from last night:
Japan:
CPI, n.s.a (MoM) (Feb) increased from 0.3% to 0.4%
National Core CPI (YoY) (Feb) increased from 0.2% to 0.6%
National CPI (YoY) (Feb) increased from 0.5% to 0.9%
National CPI (MoM) increased from 0.0% to 0.4%
BoJ Interest Rate Decision remain the same at -0.10%
Some economic news from today
Japan:
Tertiary Industry Activity Index (MoM) decreased from 0.1% to -0.7%
India:
FX Reserves, USD decreased from 631.92B to 622.28B
EUROPE/EMEA:
The Norwegian economy has recovered from the coronavirus pandemic but now faces a negative impact from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Statistics Norway (SSB) said as it released fresh forecasts on Friday. The Norwegian central bank will likely hike rates four times this year and once next year, hitting 1.75% by the end of 2023, SSB added.
Gross domestic product (GDP) for the mainland economy, which excludes the country’s oil and gas industry, is now expected to grow by 3.6% this year, somewhat less than the 4.1% predicted in December, SSB said.
The major Europe stock markets had a green day:
- CAC 40 increased 7.72 points or 0.12% to 6,620.24
- FTSE 100 increased 19.39 points or 0.26% to 7,404.73
- DAX 30 increased 25.03 points or 0.17% to 14,413.09
The major Europe currency markets had a mixed day today:
- EURUSD decreased 0.00502 or -0.45% to 1.10454
- GBPUSD increased 0.00205 or 0.16% to 1.31747
- USDCHF decreased 0.00396 or -0.42% to 0.93310
Some economic news from Europe today:
Italy:
Italian Trade Balance (Jan) decreased from 1.103B to -5.052B
Italian Trade Balance EU (Jan) increased from -3.80B to -0.89B
Euro Zone:
Wages in euro zone (YoY) (Q4) decreased from 2.20% to 1.50%
Labor Cost Index (YoY) (Q4) decreased from 2.30% to 1.90%
Trade Balance (Jan) decreased from -4.8B to -27.2B
US/AMERICAS:
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, the most hawkish member of the Federal Open Market Committee, voted in favor of raising rated by 0.5 points yesterday compared to the agreed upon 0.25 rate. Although the central bank said they plan to raise rates seven times to ultimately 1.75%, Bullard would like to see a rise of 3%. “The burden of excessive inflation is particularly heavy for people with modest incomes and wealth and for those with limited ability to adjust to a rising cost of living,” he said. “The combination of strong real economic performance and unexpectedly high inflation means that the Committee’s policy rate is currently far too low to prudently manage the U.S. macroeconomic situation.”
US Market Closings:
- Dow advanced 274.17 points or 0.8% to 34,754.93
- S&P 500 advanced 51.45 points or 1.17% to 4,463.12
- Nasdaq advanced 279.06 points or 2.05% to 13,893.84
- Russell 2000 advanced 21.12 points or 1.02% to 2,086.14
Canada Market Closings:
- TSX Composite advanced 47.25 points or 0.22% to 21,818.47
- TSX 60 advanced 2.38 points or 0.18% to 1,320.6
Brazil Market Closing:
- Bovespa advanced 2,234.58 points or 1.98% to 115,310.91
ENERGY:
The oil markets had a mixed day today:
- Crude Oil increased 1.51 USD/BBL or 1.47% to 104.4900
- Brent increased 1.06 USD/BBL or 0.99% to 107.7000
- Natural gas decreased 0.1260 USD/MMBtu or -2.53% to 4.8620
- Gasoline increased 0.018 USD/GAL or 0.56% to 3.2346
- Heating oil increased 0.1164 USD/GAL or 3.34% to 3.6037
The above data was collected around 14:27 EST on Friday
- Top commodity gainers: Heating Oil (3.34%) and Cotton (4.10%), Bitumen(2.81%), Aluminum (3.26%)
- Top commodity losers: Nickel (-12.42%), Wheat(-3.25%), Palm Oil(-5.12%) and Natural Gas(-2.53%)
The above data was collected around 14:35 EST on Friday.
BONDS:
Japan 0.2150%(+1.1bp), US 2’s 1.96% (+0.043%), US 10’s 2.1494% (-1.76bps); US 30’s 2.42% (-0.046%), Bunds 0.366% (-2.2bp), France 0.826% (-1.2bp), Italy 1.8970% (-0.8bp), Turkey 24.87% (+5bp), Greece 2.644% (-0.7bp), Portugal 1.227% (+0.7bp); Spain 1.336% (+0.3bp) and UK Gilts 1.506% (-6bp).
