ASIA:
Japan’s manufacturing activity grew at the fastest pace in nearly eight years in January on stronger output and new orders, while cost pressures stayed elevated as firms continued to face supply chain delays. The final au Jibun Bank Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) in January rose to 55.4 on a seasonally adjusted basis, up from a 54.6 flash reading and the previous month’s final of 54.3. That marked the fastest growth since February 2014 and the 12th straight month of expansion in manufacturing activity. Output also saw the fastest growth since February 2014, while the expansion rate of overall orders hit its highest since April last year, the survey showed.
The Indian government in its annual budget on Tuesday introduced a 30% income tax on returns from digital currencies. This would mean that investors will have to cough up 30% tax on the returns they make from trading or investing in cryptocurrencies. The government has also plugged loopholes, saying that there will also be income tax if crypto assets are “gifted” by anyone. The recipient of such a gift will have to pay 30% tax. This is set to impact the “air dropped” crypto assets—that is, cryptocurrencies transferred to investors without any cost or sometimes at a lower cost, when they are just launched.
The major Asian stock markets had a green day today:
- NIKKEI 225 increased 76.50 points or 0.28% to 27,078.48
- Shanghai closed
- Hang Seng closed
- ASX 200 increased 34.40 points or 0.49% to 7,006.00
- Kospi closed
- SENSEX increased 848.40 points or 1.46% to 58,862.57
- Nifty50 increased 237.00 points or 1.37% to 17,576.85
The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today:
- AUDUSD increased 0.00408 or 0.58% to 0.71067
- NZDUSD increased 0.00528 or 0.80% to 0.66244
- USDJPY decreased 0.29 or -0.25% to 114.702
- USDCNY increased 0.00241 or 0.04% to 6.37311
Precious Metals:
- Gold increased 5.5 USD/t oz. or 0.31% to 1,801.97
- Silver increased 0.178 USD/t. oz or 0.79% to 22.611
Some economic news from last night:
Japan:
Manufacturing PMI (Jan) increased from 54.3 to 55.4
Jobs/applications ratio (Dec) increased from 1.15 to 1.16
Unemployment Rate (Dec) decreased from 2.8% to 2.7%
South Korea:
Exports (YoY) (Jan) decreased from 18.3% to 15.2%
Imports (YoY) (Jan) decreased from 37.1% to 35.5%
Trade Balance (Jan) decreased from -0.45B to -4.89B
Australia:
AIG Manufacturing Index (Dec) decreased from 54.8 to 48.4
Home Loans (MoM) decreased from 7.6% to 5.3%
Invest Housing Finance (MoM) decreased from 3.8% to 2.4%
Retail Sales (MoM) (Dec) decreased from 7.3% to -4.4%
RBA Interest Rate Decision (Feb) remain the same at 0.10%
New Zealand:
Exports (Dec) increased from 5.69B to 6.07B
Imports (Dec) decreased from 6.75B to 6.55B
Trade Balance (YoY) (Dec) decreased from -6,230M to -6,780M
Trade Balance (MoM) (Dec) increased from -1,060M to -477M
Some economic news from today
India:
Nikkei Markit Manufacturing PMI (Jan) decreased from 55.5 to 54.0
Australia:
Commodity Prices (YoY) decreased from 28.7% to 25.3%
New Zealand:
GlobalDairyTrade Price Index decreased from 4.6% to 4.1%
EUROPE/EMEA:
Economists expect the Bank of England to hike interest rates consecutively for the first time since 2004 as the central bank looks to steer the U.K. economy through persistent high inflation. The Bank fired the starting gun on rate rises in December, hiking its main interest rate to 0.25% from its historic low of 0.1%. Since then, data has shown U.K. inflation soared to a 30-year high in December as higher energy costs, resurgent demand and supply chain issues continued to drive up consumer prices. The December rate hike came despite the omicron Covid-19 variant spreading rapidly throughout the U.K. and threatening to destabilize the economic recovery once again. However, the Covid outlook has improved in recent weeks, compounding anticipation for a 25-basis point hike on Feb. 3.
France’s economy grew last year at the fastest pace in 52 years, while Spain exceeded economists’ expectations. But Germany’s economy, Europe’s largest, contracted in the last quarter and the government warned of a significant slowdown. The French economy is now at its pre-pandemic level. Gross domestic product grew by 0.7% in the last quarter of the year, France’s national statistics institute said. Analysts had penciled in 0.5%. GDP jumped by 7% in 2021 after an 8% pandemic-induced decline in 2020.
Spain grew at an even faster pace in the last quarter of 2021, with GDP up 2% over the previous three months, according to official data. Economists polled by Reuters had expected 1.4%. The economy, however, hasn’t yet made up for the ground lost during the pandemic, due to the size of the tourism industry, one of the worst affected in the past two years by lockdowns and travel restrictions.
Data for the German economy surprised in the other direction, with a 0.7% contraction in the final quarter of last year that exceeded analysts’ forecast of 0.5%. Germany’s GDP only grew by 2.8% last year and remains below its prepandemic level, its official statistics institute said. German economy minister Robert Habeck said on Friday that he expected growth to slow to 2.3% in 2023. The government previously revised its growth forecast for 2022 to 3.6% from 4.1%.
The major Europe stock markets had a green day:
- CAC 40 increased 100.29 points or 1.43% to 7,099.49
- FTSE 100 increased 71.41 points or 0.96% to 7,535.78
- DAX 30 increased 148.19 points or 0.96% to 15,619.39
The major Europe currency markets had a mixed day today:
- EURUSD increased 0.00114 or 0.10% to 1.12432
- GBPUSD increased 0.00551 or 0.41% to 1.35030
- USDCHF decreased 0.00894 or -0.96% to 0.92206
Some economic news from Europe today:
UK:
Nationwide HPI (YoY) (Jan) increased from 10.4% to 11.2%
Nationwide HPI (MoM) (Jan) decreased from 1.0% to 0.8%
BoE Consumer Credit (Dec) decreased from 0.999B to 0.831B
M4 Money Supply (MoM) (Dec) decreased from 0.7% to 0.1%
Manufacturing PMI (Jan) decreased from 57.9 to 57.3
Mortgage Approvals (Dec) increased from 67.86K to 71.02K
Mortgage Lending (Dec) decreased from 3.78B to 3.57B
Net Lending to Individuals decreased from 4.9B to 4.4B
Germany:
German Retail Sales (MoM) (Dec) decreased from 0.8% to -5.5%
German Retail Sales (YoY) (Dec) decreased from 0.5% to 0.0%
German Manufacturing PMI (Jan) increased from 57.4 to 59.8
German Unemployment Change (Jan) decreased from -29K to -48K
German Unemployment Rate (Jan) decreased from 5.2% to 5.1%
German Unemployment (Jan) decreased from 2.393M to 2.345M
German Unemployment n.s.a. (Jan) increased from 2.330M to 2.462M
Swiss:
Retail Sales (YoY) (Dec) decreased from 5.3% to -0.4%
SECO Consumer Climate (Q1) decreased from 8 to 3
procure.ch PMI (Jan) increased from 62.7 to 63.8
France:
French Manufacturing PMI (Jan) decreased from 55.6 to 55.5
French CPI (MoM) increased from 0.2% to 0.3%
French CPI (YoY) increased from 2.8% to 2.9%
French HICP (YoY) decreased from 3.4% to 3.3%
French HICP (MoM) decreased from 0.2% to 0.1%
Spain:
Spanish Manufacturing PMI (Jan) remain the same at 56.2
Italy:
Italian Manufacturing PMI (Jan) decreased from 62.0 to 58.3
Italian Monthly Unemployment Rate (Dec) decreased from 9.1% to 9.0%
Norway:
Manufacturing PMI (Jan) decreased from 57.5 to 56.5
Euro Zone:
Manufacturing PMI (Jan) increased from 58.0 to 58.7
Unemployment Rate (Dec) decreased from 7.1% to 7.0%
US/AMERICAS:
The US saw nearly 11 million new job openings in December, well above the 4.6 million who are unemployed, according to the Labor Department. Vacancies rose to 10.92 million, above analysts’ expectations of 10.28 million. The increase marks a 1.4% jump from November, while the rate of job openings as a share of the workforce remains 6.8% Around 4.34 million people quit their job in December, a 3.6% decrease from the month prior, while the quits rate reached 2.9%. Layoffs fell to 1.17 million, marking a 10.7% decline from November and a 36% decline YoY.
AT&T announced plans to merge with Discovery while spinning off with WarnerMedia to the tune of $43 billion. AT&T shareholders will own 71% of the new Warner Bros, while paying out a dividend of $1.11 per share, a decrease from the previous $2.08 range.
US Market Closings:
- Dow advanced 273.38 points or 0.78% to 35,405.24
- S&P 500 advanced 30.99 points or 0.69% to 4,546.54
- Nasdaq advanced 106.12 points or 0.75% to 14,346.00
- Russell 2000 advanced 22.29 points or 1.1% to 2,050.74
Canada Market Closings:
- TSX Composite advanced 221.63 points or 1.05% to 21,319.92
- TSX 60 advanced 12.74 points or 0.99% to 1,294.7
Brazil Market Closing:
- Bovespa advanced 509.04 points or 0.56% to 91,416.55
ENERGY:
The oil markets had a mixed day today:
- Crude Oil decreased 0.17 USD/BBL or -0.19% to 87.9700
- Brent decreased 0.15 USD/BBL or -0.17% to 89.1100
- Natural gas decreased 0.142 USD/MMBtu or -2.91% to 4.7320
- Gasoline increased 0.0111 USD/GAL or 0.43% to 2.5655
- Heating oil increased 0.0214 USD/GAL or 0.79% to 2.7371
The above data was collected around 13:00 EST on Tuesday
- Top commodity gainers: Copper (2.53%) and Lithium (2.72%), Soybeans (2.23%), Cocoa (3.01%)
- Top commodity losers: Coal (-5.50%), Natural Gas(-2.91%), Orange Juice(-1.52%) and Lumber(-4.59%)
The above data was collected around 13:12 EST on Tuesday.
BONDS:
Japan 0.18%(+0.6bp), US 2’s 1.1591% (-0.03%), US 10’s 1.7911% (+0.73bps); US 30’s 2.1222% (+0.01%), Bunds 0.03% (+1.6bp), France 0.44% (+1.3bp), Italy 1.414% (+4.3bp), Turkey 22.49% (+24bp), Greece 1.774% (+0.5bp), Portugal 0.702% (+3bp); Spain 0.791% (+3.3bp) and UK Gilts 1.294% (-1.4bp).
