ASIA:
China’s refusal to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine leaves it in a “lose-lose situation” that will hamper its ambition to expand its economic influence globally, experts say. China’s move last week to lift all import restrictions on Russian wheat, which had previously been restricted due to phytosanitary concerns, was viewed by some in the international community as tacit support for Moscow.
The Indian economy is estimated to have grown at 20.3 percent in April-June as against earlier estimates of 20.1 percent, and at 8.5 percent in July-September against earlier estimates of 8.4 percent. India’s GDP is seen growing at 8.9 percent in the current financial year, lower than the earlier estimate of 9.2 percent, the second advance estimates of national income released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Monday showed. Private final consumption expenditure grew by 7 percent in Q3.
The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today:
- NIKKEI 225 increased 50.32 points or 0.19% to 26,526.82
- Shanghai increased 10.90 points or 0.32% to 3,462.31
- Hang Seng decreased 54.16 points or -0.24% to 22.713.02
- ASX 200 increased 51.30 points or 0.73% to 7,049.10
- Kospi increased 22.42 points or 0.84% to 2,699.18
- SENSEX increased 388.76 points or 0.70% to 56,247.28
- Nifty50 increased 135.50 points or 0.81% to 16,793.90
The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today:
- AUDUSD increased 0.00199 or 0.28% to 0.72529
- NZDUSD increased 0.0025 or 0.37% to 0.67671
- USDJPY decreased 0.293 or -0.25% to 115.227
- USDCNY increased 0.00537 or 0.09% to 6.31419
Precious Metals:
- Gold increased 5.11 USD/t oz. or 0.27% to 1,892.67
- Silver increased 0.063 USD/t. oz or 0.26% to 24.255
Some economic news from last night:
Japan:
Industrial Production (MoM) (Jan) decreased from -1.0% to -1.3%
Industrial Production forecast 1m ahead (MoM) (Feb) increased from 5.2% to 5.7%
Industrial Production forecast 2m ahead (MoM) (Mar) decreased from 2.2% to 0.1%
Retail Sales (YoY) (Jan) increased from 1.2% to 1.6%
Australia:
MI Inflation Gauge (MoM) increased from 0.4% to 0.5%
Business inventories (MoM) (Q4) increased from -1.7% to 1.1%
Company Gross Operating Profits (QoQ) (Q4) decreased from 4.0% to 2.0%
Company Profits Pre-Tax (QoQ) (Q4) increased from -1.3% to 7.6%
Housing Credit (Jan) remain the same at 0.7%
Private Sector Credit (MoM) (Jan) decreased from 0.8% to 0.6%
Retail Sales (MoM) (Jan) increased from -4.4% to 1.8%
New Zealand:
ANZ Business Confidence (Feb) decreased from -23.2 to -51.8
NBNZ Own Activity (Feb) decreased from 11.8% to -2.2%
Some economic news from today
Japan:
Construction Orders (YoY) (Jan) increased from 4.8% to 11.0%
Housing Starts (YoY) (Jan) decreased from 4.2% to 2.1%
India:
Federal Fiscal Deficit (Jan) decreased from -7,593.66B to -9,378.68B
Infrastructure Output (YoY) (Jan) decreased from 3.8% to 3.7%
GDP Annual increased from -6.6% to 8.9%
GDP Quarterly (YoY) (Q3) decreased from 8.4% to 5.4%
EUROPE/EMEA:
As the war continues it has been said as many as 500k Ukrainians have fled the country, mainly into Poland. The first set of talks occurred today amongst delegates with Ukraine demanding Russia immediately withdraw.
The US, UK, EU, and Canada have agreed to block 640 million euros from the Russian central bank, with the US and Europe blocking any further transactions from the bank. The US has also blocked Russia’s top-10 banks, which account for more than 80% of the banking sector.
The major Europe stock markets had a negative day:
- CAC 40 decreased 93.60 points or -1.39% to 6,658.83
- FTSE 100 decreased 31.21 points or -0.42% to 7,458.25
- DAX 30 decreased 106.21 points or -0.73% to 14,461.02
The major Europe currency markets had a mixed day today:
- EURUSD decreased 0.00496 or -0.44% to 1.12214
- GBPUSD increased 0.00084 or 0.06% to 1.34179
- USDCHF decreased 0.0075 or -0.81% to 0.91800
Some economic news from Europe today:
Norway:
Credit Indicator (YoY) (Jan) remain the same at 5.0%
Core Retail Sales (MoM) (Jan) increased from -3.1% to 0.4%
Swiss:
Retail Sales (YoY) (Jan) increased from -0.5% to 5.1%
KOF Leading Indicators (Feb) decreased from 107.8 to 105.0
GDP (YoY) (Q4) decreased from 3.8% to 3.7%
GDP (QoQ) (Q4) decreased from 1.9% to 0.3%
Spain:
Spanish CPI (YoY) increased from 6.1% to 7.4%
Spanish CPI (MoM) increased from -0.4% to 0.6%
Spanish HICP (MoM) increased from -0.8% to 0.7%
Spanish HICP (YoY) (Feb) increased from 6.2% to 7.5%
Spanish Current account (Dec) decreased from 1.01B to -1.31B
US/AMERICAS:
The Biden Administration implemented additional sanctions against Russia this Monday. “We wanted to put these actions in place before our markets open because what we learned over the course of the weekend from our allies and partners was the Russian Central Bank was attempting to move assets and there would be a great deal of asset flight starting on Monday morning from institutions around the world,” a White House official stated this morning. Western powers have already agreed to what many have called “the nuclear option” by removing Russia from the SWIFT system. The US will bank Americans from conducting business with Russia’s central bank and all assets belonging to the central bank within the US have been frozen.
US Market Closings:
- Dow declined 166.15 points or -0.49% to 33,892.6
- S&P 500 declined 10.71 points or -0.24% to 4,373.94
- Nasdaq advanced 56.78 points or 0.41% to 13,751.4
- Russell 2000 advanced 7.16 points or 0.35% to 2,048.09
Canada Market Closings:
- TSX Composite advanced 20.36 points or 0.1% to 21,126.36
- TSX 60 declined 1.24 points or -0.1% to 1,278.42
Brazil Market Closing:
- Bovespa remained unchanged and closed at 113,141.94
ENERGY:
The oil markets had a mixed day today:
- Crude Oil increased 3.71 USD/BBL or 4.05% to 95.2900
- Brent increased 2.6 USD/BBL or 2.65% to 100.5300
- Natural gas decreased 0.038 USD/MMBtu or -0.85% to 4.4360
- Gasoline increased 0.0482 USD/GAL or 1.77% to 2.7755
- Heating oil increased 0.1057 USD/GAL or 3.71% to 2.9552
The above data was collected around 12:03 EST on Monday
- Top commodity gainers: Wheat (9.16%) and Coal (15.06%), Oat (6.79%), Corn (6.71%)
- Top commodity losers: Platinum (-1.54%), Coffee (-2.23%), Feeder Cattle(-2.08%) and Live Cattle(-1.99%)
The above data was collected around 12:20 EST on Monday.
BONDS:
Japan 0.1900%(-1.9bp), US 2’s 1.45% (-0.124%), US 10’s 1.8646% (-10.06bps); US 30’s 2.20% (-0.086%), Bunds 0.114% (-11bp), France 0.583% (-12.5bp), Italy 1.676% (-16.6bp), Turkey 22.49% (-87bp), Greece 2.5170% (-5.4bp), Portugal 0.974% (-13.7bp); Spain 1.114% (-11.7bp) and UK Gilts 1.408% (-5.4bp).
The post Market Talk – February 28, 2022 first appeared on Armstrong Economics.
