ASIA:
China’s five major state-owned banks have adopted a slew of measures to ease the residential mortgage burden for individual borrowers affected by the COVID-19 epidemic. These steps include postponing mortgage repayments, extending repayment periods, as well as deferring principal and interest repayments on housing loans, the banks told Xinhua. Bank of China has urged its branches to better meet the demand from regions severely hit by the epidemic, such as Jilin and Shanghai, and pledged more financial support for the key groups, including those who have temporarily lost their income due to the epidemic. China Construction Bank said it had deferred the repayments for about 1 million households by the end of March, involving over 430 billion yuan (about 67.55 billion U.S. dollars) worth of mortgages.
The major Asian stock markets had a green day today:
- NIKKEI 225 increased 97.23 points or 0.36% to 26,985.80
- Shanghai increased 15.16 points or 0.47% to 3,251.85
- Hang Seng increased 63.03 points or 0.29% to 21,872.01
- ASX 200 increased 35.20 points or 0.47% to 7,478.00
- Kospi increased 4.53 points or 0.17% to 2,700.39
- SENSEX increased 412.23 points or 0.70% to 59,447.18
- Nifty50 increased 144.80 points or 0.82% to 17,784.35
The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today:
- AUDUSD decreased 0.00269 or -0.36% to 0.74550
- NZDUSD decreased 0.00481 or -0.70% to 0.68439
- USDJPY increased 0.255 or 0.21% to 124.375
- USDCNY increased 0.00835 or 0.13% to 6.37235
Precious Metals:
- Gold increased 10.84 USD/t oz. or 0.56% to 1,943.01
- Silver increased 0.226 USD/t. oz or 0.92% to 24.796
Some economic news from last night:
Japan:
Adjusted Current Account increased from 0.18T to 0.52T
Current Account n.s.a. (Feb) increased from -1.196T to 1.648T
South Korea：
Current Account (Feb) increased from 1.92B to 6.42B
Some economic news from today
Japan:
Household Confidence (Mar) decreased from 35.2 to 32.8
Economy Watchers Current Index (Mar) increased from 37.7 to 47.8
India:
Cash Reserve Ratio remain the same at 4.00%
Interest Rate Decision remain the same at 4,00%
Reverse REPO Rate remain the same at 3.35%
Bank Loan Growth increased from 8.5% to 9.6%
Deposit Growth increased from 8.8% to 8.9%
FX Reserves, USD decreased from 617.65B to 606.48B
EUROPE/EMEA:
Eurozone bond yields rose on Friday as traders further ramped up bets on European Central Bank rate hikes this year. Minutes from the ECB’s latest policy meeting, which were more hawkish than expected, had already pushed yields higher after they were published on Thursday. Goldman Sachs, which had cut its call following the invasion of Ukraine, and Danske Bank now expect the ECB to deliver 25 basis-point hikes in both September and December. Expectations for rate hikes next year have also moved sharply higher. For example markets are betting rates will rise to around 1.15% in July 2023, up from around 0.95% at the start of the month.
The major Europe stock markets had a green day:
- CAC 40 increased 86.54 points or 1.34% to 6,548.22
- FTSE 100 increased 117.75 points or 1.56% to 7,669.56
- DAX 30 increased 205.52 points or 1.46% to 14,283.67
The major Europe currency markets had a mixed day today:
- EURUSD increased 0.00058 or 0.05% to 1.08776
- GBPUSD decreased 0.00388 or -0.30% to 1.30323
- USDCHF decreased 0.00021 or -0.02% to 0.93380
Some economic news from Europe today:
Spain:
Spanish Industrial Production (YoY) (Feb) increased from 2.0% to 3.0%
Italy:
Italian Retail Sales (YoY) (Feb) decreased from 8.3% to 4.3%
Italian Retail Sales (MoM) (Feb) increased from -0.6% to 0.7%
US/AMERICAS:
Bank of America issued a warning that “inflation always precedes recessions,” and is preparing for the worst. Analysts at the bank stated that the Fed’s decision to tighten monetary policy will potentially lead to a “recession shock.” Inflation currently sits at a 40-year high and shows no signs of slowing.
Biden’s appointee Ketanji Brown Jackson was appointed to the US Supreme Court yesterday. The Senate confirmed Jackson in a 53-47 vote, placing her on the highest court in the nation. Republicans Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney broke from party lines to appoint Jackson.
US Market Closings:
- Dow advanced 137.55 points or 0.4% to 34,721.12
- S&P 500 declined 11.93 points or -0.27% to 4,488.28
- Nasdaq declined 186.3 points or -1.34% to 13,711.00
- Russell 2000 declined 15.24 points or -0.76% to 1,994.56
Canada Market Closings:
- TSX Composite advanced 39.46 points or 0.18% to 21,874.35
- TSX 60 advanced 1.34 points or 0.1% to 1,324.37
Brazil Market Closing:
- Bovespa declined 539.86 points or -0.45% to 118,322.26
ENERGY:
The oil markets had a mixed day today:
- Crude Oil increased 2.23 USD/BBL or 2.32% to 98.260
- Brent increased 2.27 USD/BBL or 2.26% to 102.85
- Natural gas decreased 0.042 USD/MMBtu or -0.66% to 6.3170
- Gasoline increased 0.0876 USD/GAL or 2.88% to 3.1274
- Heating oil increased 0.0533 USD/GAL or 1.63% to 3.3211
The above data was collected around 14:46 EST on Friday
- Top commodity gainers: Wheat (3.00%) and Lumber (6.36%), Orange Juice(3.86%), Palladium (7.90%)
- Top commodity losers: Bitumen(-5.98%), Natural Gas (-0.66%), Rhodium(-1.55%) and Methanol (-2.62%)
The above data was collected around 14:52 EST on Friday.
BONDS:
Japan 0.235%(+0.2bp), US 2’s 2.52% (+0.050%), US 10’s 2.7151% (+4.97bps); US 30’s 2.75% (+0.060%), Bunds 0.715% (+3.5bp), France 1.264% (+4.8bp), Italy 2.396% (+6.3bp), Turkey 23.98% (-35bp), Greece 2.889% (+5.5bp), Portugal 1.667% (+7bp); Spain 1.74% (+7.3bp) and UK Gilts 1.758% (+2.9bp).
