ASIA:
Singapore and Malaysia have agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation and jointly seize opportunities in the digital economy and green economy, and to work closely on data protection and cyber security. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim witnessed the signing of three agreements covering these fields on Monday, during Datuk Seri Anwar’s first official visit to the Republic since he was sworn in as Malaysia’s 10th prime minister on Nov 24. As Malaysia’s first green economy agreement signed with any country, the partnership is expected to strengthen collaboration to decarbonize both countries’ industries and help businesses and workers seize opportunities in the green economy. The agreements will see the two neighbors deepen cooperation in areas such as the setting of standards and the deployment of charging points for electric vehicles, and jointly explore projects in low-carbon solutions, in particular hydrogen and carbon capture, utilization and storage.
The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today:
- NIKKEI 225 increased 107.41 points or 0.39% to 27,509.46
- Shanghai decreased 22.26 points or -0.68% to 3,263.41
- Hang Seng decreased 297.89 points or -1.36% to 21,660.47
- ASX 200 increased 46.50 points or 0.62% to 7,558.10
- Kospi increased 11.52 points or 0.47% to 2,480.40
- SENSEX increased 909.64 points or 1.52% to 60,841.88
- Nifty50 increased 243.65 points or 1.38% to 17,854.05
The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today:
- AUDUSD decreased 0.01035 or -1.46% to 0.69725
- NZDUSD decreased 0.00997 or -1.54% to 0.63763
- USDJPY increased 2.346 or 1.82% to 130.996
- USDCNY increased 0.04607 or 0.68% to 6.78457
Precious Metals:
- Gold decreased 41.16 USD/t oz. or -2.15% to 1,871.21
- Silver decreased 0.950 USD/t. oz or -4.05% to 22.514
Some economic news from last night:
China:
Caixin Services PMI (Jan) increased from 48.0 to 52.9
Japan:
Services PMI (Jan) increased from 51.1 to 52.3
Australia:
Home Loans (MoM) decreased from -3.0% to -5.7%
Some economic news from today:
India:
Nikkei Services PMI (Jan) decreased from 58.5 to 57.2
FX Reserves, USD increased from 573.73B to 576.76B
Hong Kong:
Retail Sales (YoY) (Dec) increased from -4.2% to 1.1%
EUROPE/EMEA:
Europe’s two largest central banks raised interest rates sharply on Thursday, opting for bigger increases than the US Federal Reserve as inflation in the region remains near historically high levels. The European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England lifted rates by another half a percentage point. Benchmark interest rates for both are at their highest levels since 2008. UK inflation has also eased, coming in at 10.5% in December, but remains near a 41-year high. The Bank of England has a particularly tough job on its hands: prices are rising rapidly while at the same time the United Kingdom faces a risk of recession, and rate hikes act to dampen both inflation and economic growth. On Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund forecast that the United Kingdom would be the only major economy to contract this year.
The major Europe stock markets had a mixed day:
- CAC 40 increased 67.67 points or 0.94% to 7,233.94
- FTSE 100 increased 81.64 points or 1.04% to 7,901.80
- DAX 30 decreased 32.76 points or -0.21% to 15,476.43
The major Europe currency markets had a mixed day today:
- EURUSD decreased 0.00583 or -0.53% to 1.08517
- GBPUSD decreased 0.01223 or -1.00% to 1.21007
- USDCHF increased 0.01015 or 1.11% to 0.92305
Some economic news from Europe today:
Spain:
Spanish Services PMI (Jan) increased from 51.6 to 52.7
Italy:
Italian Services PMI (Jan) increased from 49.9 to 51.2
France:
French Services PMI (Jan) decreased from 49.5 to 49.4
Germany:
German Services PMI (Jan) increased from 49.2 to 50.7
UK:
Composite PMI (Jan) decreased from 49.0 to 48.5
Services PMI (Jan) decreased from 49.9 to 48.7
Euro Zone:
S&P Global Composite PMI (Jan) increased from 49.3 to 50.3
Services PMI (Jan) increased from 49.8 to 50.8
US/AMERICAS:
The nonfarm payrolls report showed an increase of 517,000 in January, according to the US Labor Department. The surprising figure was far ahead of December’s increase of 260,000, and analysts at Dow Jones were expecting a gain of only 187,000. Unemployment fell to 3.4%, beneath the previous pre-pandemic record of 3.5%, which marks the lowest level of unemployment since May 1969.
Hourly earnings rose 0.3% for the month, and 4.4% on an annual basis. Leisure and hospitality saw the most significant advancement after filling 128,000 jobs, followed by business services (82,000), government (74,000), health (58,000) retail (30,000), and construction (25,000).
In a different market, this would be welcome news for the US economy. As Fed Chair Jerome Powell stated, the workforce “remains extremely tight” and “out of balance.” There are still 11 million job openings, amounting to nearly two vacancies for every available worker. The majority is now pricing in another rate hike at the central bank’s March meeting.
US Market Closings:
- Dow declined 127.93 points or -0.38% to 33,926.01
- S&P 500 declined 43.28 points or -1.04% to 4,136.48
- Nasdaq declined 193.86 points or -1.59% to 12,006.95
- Russell 2000 declined 15.69 points or -0.78% to 1,985.53
Canada Market Closings:
- TSX Composite advanced 17.9 points or 0.09% to 20,758.34
- TSX 60 advanced 3.25 points or 0.26% to 1,251.69
Brazil Market Closing:
- Bovespa declined 1,617.17 points or -1.47% to 108,523.47
ENERGY:
The oil markets had a mixed day today:
- Crude Oil increased 0.132 USD/BBL or 0.17% to 76.011
- Brent increased 0.037 USD/BBL or 0.05% to 82.207
- Natural gas decreased 0.0806 USD/MMBtu or -3.28% to 2.3754
- Gasoline decreased 0.0504 USD/GAL or -2.06% to 2.4019
- Heating oil decreased 0.0484 USD/GAL or -1.67% to 2.8483
The above data was collected around 11:23 EST on Friday
- Top commodity gainers: HRC Steel (3.65%) and Palm Oil (2.67%)
- Top commodity losers: Zinc (-3.43%), Silver (-4.05%), Platinum (-3.87%) and Natural Gas (-3.28%)
The above data was collected around 11:27 EST Friday.
BONDS:
Japan 0.486% (-0.8bp), US 2’s 4.27% (+0.176%), US 10’s 3.5339% (+13.59bps); US 30’s 3.64% (+0.088%), Bunds 2.194% (+12.9bp), France 2.643% (+13.2bp), Italy 4.022% (+13.5bp), Turkey 10.65% (+13bp), Greece 4.039% (-6.2bp), Portugal 3.056% (+13.8bp); Spain 3.165% (+12.3bp) and UK Gilts 3.065% (+5.9bp).
