ASIA:
The Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy committee (MPC) stuck to its accommodative policy stance to help the economy recover from the pits of the pandemic, keeping the key lending rate at record lows on Thursday. As expected, the MPC held the lending rate, or the repo rate, at 4%. The RBI however, surprised some economists by also leaving the reverse repo rate, the key borrowing rate, unchanged at 3.35%. The median forecast in a Reuters poll predicted the RBI would raise the reverse repo rate by 20 basis points to re-align it with short-term money market rates and narrow the corridor with the key lending rate.
The major Asian stock markets had a negative day today:
- NIKKEI 225 closed
- Shanghai decreased 22.96 points or -0.66% to 3,462.95
- Hang Seng decreased 17.69 points or -0.07% to 24.906.66
- ASX 200 decreased 71.20 points or -0.98% to 7,217.30
- Kospi decreased 24.22 points or -0.87% to 2,747.71
- SENSEX decreased 773.11 points or -1.31% to 58,152.92
- Nifty50 decreased 231.10 points or -1.31% to 17,374.75
The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today:
- AUDUSD increased 0.00145 or 0.20% to 0.71773
- NZDUSD increased 0.00049 or 0.07% to 0.66796
- USDJPY decreased 0.117 or -0.10% to 115.936
- USDCNY decreased 0.00302 or -0.05% to 6.35868
Precious Metals:
- Gold increased 13.27 USD/t oz. or 0.73% to 1,839.84
- Silver increased 0.163 USD/t. oz or 0.70% to 23.341
Some economic news from last night:
China:
China Thomson Reuters IPSOS PCSI (Feb) increased from 67.76 to 72.04
Japan:
Thomson Reuters IPSOS PCSI (Feb) decreased from 44.28 to 39.33
New Zealand:
Thomson Reuters IPSOS PCSI (Feb) decreased from 53.7 to 52.1
Electronic Card Retail Sales (MoM) (Jan) increased from 0.3% to 3.0%
Electronic Card Retail Sales (YoY) (Jan) increased from 4.2% to 5.7%
Inflation Expectations (QoQ) increased from 3.0% to 3.3%
Some economic news from today
India:
Bank Loan Growth increased from 8.0% to 8.2%
Deposit Growth decreased from 10.3% to 8.3%
FX Reserves, USD decreased from 634.29B to 631.95B
Cumulative Industrial Production (Dec) decreased from 17.40% to 15.20%
Industrial Production (YoY) (Dec) decreased from 1.3% to 0.4%
Manufacturing Output (MoM) (Dec) decreased from 0.8% to -0.1%
EUROPE/EMEA:
Britain’s economy grew by 7.5% last year in the fastest annual growth rate since the second world war, despite falling back in December as the omicron variant dented consumer spending. The Office for National Statistics said output fell by 0.2% in December – a stronger performance than expected – as shortages of goods in the shops in the run-up to Christmas and a record number of job vacancies also slowed the economy after a 0.7% increase in November. Rishi Sunak credited the Treasury’s £400bn package of support and “making the right calls at the right time” for the economy’s resilience. “I’m proud of the resolve the whole country has demonstrated, and proud of our incredible vaccine program, which has allowed the economy to stay open,” the chancellor said.
The major Europe stock markets had a negative day:
- CAC 40 decreased 89.95 points or -1.27% to 7,011.60
- FTSE 100 decreased 11.38 points or -0.15% to 7,661.02
- DAX 30 decreased 65.32 points or -0.42% to 15,425.12
The major Europe currency markets had a mixed day today:
- EURUSD decreased 0.00182 or -0.16% to 1.13963
- GBPUSD increased 0.00471 or 0.35% to 1.35976
- USDCHF increased 0.0006 or 0.06% to 0.92613
Some economic news from Europe today:
UK:
NIESR Monthly GDP Tracker decreased from 1.0% to 0.9%
Business Investment (QoQ) (Q4) increased from -0.8% to 0.9%
Business Investment (YoY) (Q4) decreased from 3.2% to -0.8%
U.K. Construction Output (YoY) (Dec) increased from 3.6% to 7.4%
Construction Output (MoM) (Dec) increased from 1.9% to 2.0%
GDP (MoM) decreased from 0.9% to -0.2%
GDP (QoQ) (Q4) remain the same at 1.0%
GDP (YoY) (Q4) decreased from 7.0% to 6.5%
Index of Services decreased from 1.3% to 1.2%
Industrial Production (YoY) (Dec) increased from -0.2% to 0.4%
Industrial Production (MoM) (Dec) decreased from 0.7% to 0.3%
Manufacturing Production (MoM) (Dec) decreased from 0.7% to 0.2%
Manufacturing Production (YoY) (Dec) increased from -0.1% to 1.3%
Monthly GDP 3M/3M Change decreased from 1.1% to 1.0%
Trade Balance (Dec) increased from -12.70B to -12.53B
Trade Balance Non-EU (Dec) decreased from -7.23B to -7.88B
Germany:
German CPI (MoM) (Jan) remain the same at 0.4%
German CPI (YoY) (Jan) remain the same at 4.9%
German HICP (YoY) (Jan) remain the same at 5.1%
German HICP (MoM) (Jan) remain the same at 0.9%
German WPI (YoY) (Jan) increased from 16.1% to 16.2%
German WPI (MoM) (Jan) increased from 0.2% to 2.3%
Swiss:
CPI (YoY) (Jan) increased from 1.5% to 1.6%
CPI (MoM) (Jan) increased from -0.1% to 0.2%
Spain:
Spanish Consumer Confidence increased from 81.3 to 89.3
US/AMERICAS:
The White House believes that Russia is preparing to invade Ukraine. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is warning Americans to leave Ukraine immediately. “And as we’ve said before, we’re in a window when an invasion could begin at any time. And to be clear, that includes during the Olympics,” Blinken noted. “We’re continuing to draw down our embassy. We will continue that process. And we’ve also been very clear that any American citizens who remain in Ukraine should leave now.” President Biden issued the same warning, stating that the US will not be involved as it will lead to the next world war. “We’re dealing with one of the largest armies in the world. It’s a very different situation and things could go crazy quickly,” President Biden stated.
US Market Closings:
- Dow declined 503.53 points or -1.43% to 34,738.06
- S&P 500 declined 85.49 points or -1.9% to 4,418.59
- Nasdaq declined 349.49 points or -2.78% to 13,791.15
- Russell 2000 declined 21.02 points or -1.02% to 2,030.15
Canada Market Closings:
- TSX Composite advanced 17.12 points or 0.08% to 21,548.84
- TSX 60 advanced 0.63 of a point or 0.05% to 1,307.77
Brazil Market Closing:
- Bovespa advanced 204.58 points or 0.18% to 113,572.35
ENERGY:
The oil markets had a mixed day today:
- Crude Oil increased 2.1 USD/BBL or 2.34% to 91.9800
- Brent increased 1.95 USD/BBL or 2.13% to 93.3600
- Natural gas decreased 0.045 USD/MMBtu or -1.14% to 3.9140
- Gasoline increased 0.0392 USD/GAL or 1.47% to 2.7046
- Heating oil increased 0.0504 USD/GAL or 1.78% to 2.8776
The above data was collected around 12:45 EST on Friday
- Top commodity gainers: Crude Oil (2.34%) and Lumber (3.60%), Brent (2.13%), Heating Oil (1.78%)
- Top commodity losers: Aluminum (-2.96%), Oat(-2.25%), Methanol(-2.17%) and Copper(-3.61%)
The above data was collected around 12:55 EST on Friday.
BONDS:
Japan 0.236%(+3.1bp), US 2’s 1.5775% (-0.03%), US 10’s 2.0259% (-1.74bps); US 30’s 2.3285% (+0.01%), Bunds 0.291% (-0.1bp), France 0.756% (+0.6bp), Italy 1.94% (+4.2bp), Turkey 20.81% (-2bp), Greece 2.557% (+0.6bp), Portugal 1.035% (+0bp); Spain 1.158% (-2.4bp) and UK Gilts 1.5320% (+0.1bp).
