ASIA:
Indian banks may face some headwinds from the Russia-Ukraine crisis, which could lead to higher inflation and some stress for borrowers, S&P Global Ratings analyst informed. Indian banks’ direct exposure to Russia and Ukraine is limited, and the direct impact from the conflict is likely to be marginal, S&P analysts said. Gross non-performing assets of Indian banks were at 6.9% of total assets as of September 2021, according to the central bank. In December, the Reserve Bank of India warned that bad loans at commercial banks in India could rise between 8.1% and 9.5% by September 2022.
The major Asian stock markets had a green day today:• NIKKEI 225 increased 890.88 points or 3.46% to 26,652.89• Shanghai increased 44.33 points or 1.40% to 3,215.04• Hang Seng increased 1,413.73 points or 7.04% to 21.501.23• ASX 200 increased 75.60 points or 1.05% to 7,250.80• Kospi increased 35.28 points or 1.33% to 2,694.51• SENSEX increased 1,047.28 points or 1.84% to 57,863.93• Nifty50 increased 311.70 points or 1.84% to 17,287.05The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today:• AUDUSD increased 0.01009 or 1.38% to 0.73881• NZDUSD increased 0.00647 or 0.95% to 0.68931• USDJPY decreased 0.448 or -0.38% to 118.437• USDCNY decreased 0.00494 or -0.08% to 6.35863Precious Metals:• Gold increased 16.13 USD/t oz. or 0.84% to 1,944.06• Silver increased 0.286 USD/t. oz or 1.14% to 25.351Some economic news from last night:Japan:Core Machinery Orders (YoY) (Jan) remain the same at 5.1%Core Machinery Orders (MoM) (Jan) decreased from 3.1% to -2.0%Foreign Bonds Buying increased from -363.8B to -164.7BForeign Investments in Japanese Stocks decreased from -910.0B to -1,050.4BSouth Korea:M2 Money supply (Jan) decreased from 10.50% to 10.00%Australia:Employment Change (Feb) increased from 12.9k to 77.4KEmployment Change (Feb) increased from -17.0K to 121.9KParticipation Rate (Feb) increased from 66.2% to 66.4%Unemployment Rate (Feb) decreased from 4.2% to 4.0%New Zealand:RBNZ Offshore Holdings (Feb) increased from 52.60% to 53.80%GDP (QoQ) (Q4) increased from -3.7% to 3.0%GDP (YoY) (Q4) increased from -0.3% to 3.1%GDP Annual Average (Q4) increased from 4.9% to 5.6%GDP Expenditure (QoQ) (Q4) increased from -4.7% to 2.6%Singapore:Non-Oil Exports (MoM) (Feb) decreased from 5.00% to -2.80%Non-Oil Exports (YoY) (Feb) decreased from 17.60% to 9.50%Trade Balance increased from 5.068B to 8.325BSome economic news from todayKong Kong:Unemployment Rate (Feb) increased from 3.9% to 4.5%EUROPE/EMEA:
The Bank of England raised interest rates on Thursday for a third meeting running, as expected, but softened its language on the need for further increases from here. Eight out of nine members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to raise Bank Rate to 0.75% from 0.5%, following the US Federal Reserve’s decision on Wednesday to raise borrowing costs for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. The BoE said inflation was set to reach around 8% in April -almost a percentage point higher than it forecast last month – and warned it could peak even higher later in the year.
The major Europe stock markets had a mixed day:• CAC 40 increased 23.88 points or 0.36% to 6,612.52• FTSE 100 increased 93.66 points or 1.28% to 7,385.34• DAX 30 decreased 52.68 points or -0.36% to 14,388.06The major Europe currency markets had a mixed day today:• EURUSD increased 0.01092 or 0.99% to 1.11272• GBPUSD increased 0.00274 or 0.21% to 1.31639• USDCHF decreased 0.00705 or -0.75% to 0.93457Some economic news from Europe today:UK:Car Registration (YoY) (Feb) decreased from 27.5% to 15.0%Car Registration (MoM) (Feb) decreased from 6.0% to -48.7%BoE Interest Rate Decision (Mar) increased from 0.50% to 0.75%Italy:Italian Car Registration (MoM) (Feb) decreased from 24.4% to 2.8%Italian Car Registration (YoY) (Feb) decreased from -19.7% to -22.6%Swiss:Trade Balance (Feb) increased from 3.066B to 5.953BGermany:German Car Registration (MoM) (Feb) increased from -19.1% to 8.9%German Car Registration (YoY) (Feb) decreased from 8.5% to 3.2%France:French Car Registration (MoM) (Feb) increased from -34.9% to 12.1%French Car Registration (YoY) (Feb) increased from -18.6% to -13.0%Spain:Spanish Trade Balance decreased from -5.30B to -6.10BEuro Zone:Core CPI (MoM) (Feb) remain the same at 0.5%Core CPI (YoY) (Feb) remain the same at 2.7%CPI (YoY) (Feb) increased from 5.8% to 5.9%CPI (MoM) (Feb) increased from 0.3% to 0.9%CPI ex Tobacco (MoM) (Feb) increased from 0.3% to 1.0%CPI ex Tobacco (YoY) (Feb) increased from 5.2% to 5.9%HICP ex Energy & Food (YoY) (Feb) remain the same at 2.9%HICP ex Energy and Food (MoM) (Feb) increased from -0.5% to 0.6%US/AMERICAS:
Weekly jobless claims in the US totaled 214,000, showing improvement for the week ending on March 12. The Labor Department stated that initial filings for the week ending on March 12 declined 15,000 from the week prior. This is the lowest level of unemployment in the US since January 1, placing the jobless rate at 3.8%. Continuous claims, collected a week prior, declined by 71,000 to 1.42 million.
President Biden will meet with China’s Xi Jinping this Friday for the first time since the war in Ukraine began. Secretary Psaki said the meeting will address US-China competition and their separate dealings with Russia amid the conflict.
US Market Closings:
- Dow advanced 417.66 points or 1.23% to 34,480.76
- S&P 500 advanced 53.81 points or 1.23% to 4,411.67
- Nasdaq advanced 178.23 points or 1.33% to 13,614.78
- Russell 2000 advanced 34.3 points or 1.69% to 2,065.02
Canada Market Closings:
- TSX Composite advanced 302.39 points or 1.41% to 21,771.22
- TSX 60 advamced 16.89 points or 1.3% to 1,318.22
Brazil Market Closing:
- Bovespa advanced 1,963.9 points or 1.77% to 113,076.33
ENERGY:The oil markets had a green day today:• Crude Oil increased 7.18 USD/BBL or 7.55% to 102.2200• Brent increased 8.31 USD/BBL or 8.48% to 106.3300• Natural gas increased 0.1930 USD/MMBtu or 4.06% to 4.9410• Gasoline increased 0.1997 USD/GAL or 6.68% to 3.1872• Heating oil increased 0.3912 USD/GAL or 12.62% to 3.4913The above data was collected around 13:46 EST on Thursday • Top commodity gainers: Heating Oil (12.62%) and Brent (8.48%), Crude Oil(7.55%), Aluminum (7.20%)• Top commodity losers: Nickel (-8.00%), Lean Hogs(-1.81%), Palm Oil(-2.14%) and Bitumen(-1.11%)The above data was collected around 13:52 EST on Thursday.BONDS: Japan 0.2100%(+0.8bp), US 2’s 1.94% (-0.012%), US 10’s 2.1688% (-2.32bps); US 30’s 2.45% (-0.011%), Bunds 0.387% (-0.6bp), France 0.844% (-0.8bp), Italy 1.9190% (+2bp), Turkey 24.56% (-7bp), Greece 2.644% (-2bp), Portugal 1.246% (+3.8bp); Spain 1.354% (+1.1bp) and UK Gilts 1.574% (-5.5bp).
