ASIA:
India plans to buy 1 million tonnes of potash from Belarus in the first such bilateral deal between the two countries after sanctions crippled Minsk’s ability to sell the crop nutrient, Reuters reported. India has suggested that the state-run Belarus Potash Company (BPC) could open a rupee account with a state-run Indian bank for potash sales as sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union cut off the Minsk from dollar and euro trade, the officials said. BPC is the export arm of Belaruskali, the world’s second-largest potash producer. The U.S. blacklisted Belaruskali and added BPC to its sanctions list as the West escalated punitive action against Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko.
The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today:
- NIKKEI 225 decreased 292.29 points or -1.06% to 27,241.31
- Shanghai closed
- Hang Seng closed
- ASX 200 decreased 9.70 points or -0.14% to 7,078.00
- Kospi increased 44.48 points or 1.67% to 2,707.82
- SENSEX decreased 770.31 points or -1.29% to 58,788.02
- Nifty50 decreased 219.80 points or -1.24% to 17,560.20
The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today:
- AUDUSD increased 0.00310 or 0.44% to 0.71545
- NZDUSD increased 0.00610 or 0.92% to 0.66756
- USDJPY increased 0.471 or 0.41% to 114.846
- USDCNY decreased 0.00340 or -0.05% to 6.35400
Precious Metals:
Gold increased 0.59 USD/t oz. or 0.03% to 1,807.09
Silver decreased 0.160 USD/t. oz or -0.71% to 22.464
Some economic news from last night:
Japan:
Services PMI (Jan) decreased from 52.1 to 47.6
Foreign Bonds Buying decreased from 15.8B to -555.8B
Foreign Investments in Japanese Stocks decreased from 9.6B to -120.6B
South Korea:
Nikkei Manufacturing PMI (Jan)increased from 51.9 to 52.8
Australia:
AIG Construction Index (Dec) decreased from 57.0 to 45.9
Services PMI decreased from 55.1 to 46.6
Building Approvals (MoM) (Dec) increased from 2.6% to 8.2%
Exports (MoM) (Dec) decreased from 2% to 1%
Imports (MoM) (Dec) decreased from 6% to 5%
NAB Quarterly Business Confidence increased from -2 to 18
Private House Approvals (Dec) decreased from 1.4% to -1.8%
Trade Balance (Dec) decreased from 9.423B to 8.356B
New Zealand:
ANZ Commodity Price Index (MoM) increased from -0.3% to 1.0%
Some economic news from today
India:
Nikkei Services PMI (Jan) decreased from 55.5 to 51.5
Singapore:
Manufacturing PMI (Jan) decreased from 50.7 to 50.6
EUROPE/EMEA:
European stocks closed lower on Thursday as investors reacted to policy decisions from both the European Central Bank and the Bank of England amid persistent inflationary pressures. The European Stoxx 600 closed down 1.8% provisionally, with tech stocks sliding 3.4% to lead the losses after a weaker-than-expected set of results and disappointing earnings forecast from Facebook parent company Meta.
In the U.K., the Bank of England on Thursday raised interest rates again — the first back-to-back rate hike since 2004 — and began the process of quantitative tightening. As expected, the BOE’s Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously for a 25 basis point rate increase to take the main Bank Rate to 0.5%. The central bank also warned inflation would top 7% in April, up from an earlier projection of 6%. It comes as British energy regulator Ofgem said it would raise the maximum limit on energy prices by more than 50%
The major Europe stock markets had a negative day:
- CAC 40 decreased 109.64 points or -1.54% to 7,005.63
- FTSE 100 decreased 54.16 points or -0.71% to 7,528.84
- DAX 30 decreased 245.30 points or -1.57% to 15,368.47
The major Europe currency markets had a mixed day today:
- EURUSD increased 0.01430 or 1.27% to 1.14446
- GBPUSD increased 0.00490 or 0.36% to 1.36165
- USDCHF decreased 0.00060 or -0.07% to 0.91843
Some economic news from Europe today:
Norway:
House Price Index (YoY) (Jan) increased from 5.20% to 6.80%
Spain:
Spanish Services PMI (Jan) decreased from 55.8 to 46.6
Italy:
Italian Composite PMI (Jan) decreased from 54.7 to 50.1
Italian Services PMI (Jan) decreased from 53.0 to 48.5
France:
French Markit Composite PMI (Jan) decreased from 55.8 to 52.7
French Services PMI (Jan) decreased from 57.0 to 53.1
Germany:
German Composite PMI (Jan) increased from 49.9 to 53.8
German Services PMI (Jan) increased from 48.7 to 52.2
Euro Zone:
PPI (YoY) (Dec) increased from 23.7% to 26.2%
PPI (MoM) (Dec) increased from 1.8% to 2.9%
Deposit Facility Rate (Feb) remain the same at -0.50%
ECB Marginal Lending Facility remain the same at 0.25%
ECB Interest Rate Decision (Feb) remain the same at 0.00%
UK:
Composite PMI (Jan) increased from 53.6 to 54.2
Services PMI (Jan) increased from 53.6 to 54.1
BoE Interest Rate Decision (Feb) increased from 0.25% to 0.50%
US/AMERICAS:
Thursday’s jobs report by the Labor Department noted that applications for the week of January 29 fell to 238,000. The figure was revised down from the original 261,000 and beat the forecast of 245,000. Continuing claims for the week prior fell to 1.628 million, marking a 44,000 decrease from the week prior.
Canada’s GDP increased by 0.6% this November, according to data provided by Statistics Canada. This comes after October’s 0.8% advancement. Around 7 of the 20 industrial sectors saw gains. Both services-producing (0.6%) and goods-producing (0.5%) industries saw increases as well. Wholesale trade rose 2.8%, marking the largest monthly advancement since July 2020. The manufacturing sector increased by 1.4%, the third increase in four months, as durable-goods manufacturing rose 1.8%.
US Market Closings:
- Dow declined 518.17 points or -1.45% to 35,111.16
- S&P 500 declined 111.94 points or -2.44% to 4,477.44
- Nasdaq declined 538.73 points or -3.74% to 13,878.82
- Russell 2000 declined 38.48 points or -1.9% to 1,991.03
Canada Market Closings:
- TSX Composite declined 268.35 points or -1.26% to 21,094.01
- TSX 60 declined 16.39 points or -1.26% to 1,282.65
Brazil Market Closing:
- Bovespa declined 198.42 points or -0.18% to 111,695.94
ENERGY:
The oil markets had a mixed day today:
- Crude Oil increased 0.61 USD/BBL or 0.69% to 88.8700
- Brent increased 0.52 USD/BBL or 0.58% to 89.9900
- Natural gas decreased 0.638 USD/MMBtu or -11.60% to 4.8630
- Gasoline increased 0.0104 USD/GAL or 0.40% to 2.6174
- Heating oil increased 0.0268 USD/GAL or 0.97% to 2.7957
The above data was collected around 12:09 EST on Thursday
- Top commodity gainers: Coffee (1.70%) and Lithium (2.72%), Aluminum (2.21%), Lumber (4.59%)
- Top commodity losers: Palm Oil (-1.41%), Palladium(-2.49%), Coal(-1.82%) and Natural Gas(-11.60%)
The above data was collected around 12:18 EST on Thursday.
BONDS:
Japan 0.188%(+1.4bp), US 2’s 1.20% (+0.048%), US 10’s 1.8271% (+5.56bps); US 30’s 2.15% (+0.040%), Bunds 0.142% (+10.7bp), France 0.579% (+13.2bp), Italy 1.631% (+20.4bp), Turkey 22.22% (+16bp), Greece 1.915% (+13.7bp), Portugal 0.885% (+17bp); Spain 0.95% (+15.7bp) and UK Gilts 1.368% (+11.4bp).
