|
| |
Market Wrap: Stocks, Bonds, Commodities |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
On Friday, major U.S. stock indexes posted further losses after sliding over 1.5% Thursday, with the S&P 500 slipping 40 points (-0.61%) to 6,632.
The Nasdaq 100 fell 152 points (-0.62%) to 24,380, and the Dow Jones was down 119 points (-0.26%) to 46,558.
On a weekly basis, all the three indexes declined for three straight weeks.
Oil prices remained buoyed despite U.S. President Donald Trump temporarily easing sanctions on Russian oil to calm supply concerns.
Over the weekend, Trump threatened more strikes on Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export hub, adding he was not ready to reach a deal to end the war.
The U.S. WTI crude futures settled 2.98 dollars higher (+3.11%) at 98.71 dollars a barrel on Friday. At the open of Monday’s session, U.S. crude futures surpassed again the level of 100 dollars a barrel.
The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield climbed for a fourth straight session, gaining 2.2 basis points to 4.283%.
All tech giants stayed under pressure on Friday, with Meta (META) losing 3.83%, Apple (AAPL) down 2.21%, Nvidia (NVDA) down 1.58%, and Microsoft (MSFT) down 1.57%.
Micron (MU) rebounded 5.13%, and data-storage firms also outperformed the market, with Sandisk (SNDK) bouncing 6.92%, and Western Digital (WDC) up 4.25%.
Adobe (ADBE) plummeted 7.58%. The design software company said its longtime CEO will step down after a successor is appointed.
Ulta Beauty (ULTA) shares plunged 14.24% as investors seemed not impressed by the company’s quarterly results.
European stocks fell further, with the DAX losing 0.60%, the CAC 40 down 0.91%, and the FTSE 100 down 0.43%.
Gold declined for a third session on Friday, testing support at the key level of 5,000 dollars an ounce.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
The U.S. dollar stayed firm against other major currencies, with the dollar index eventually breaking above the key level of 100.
U.S. core personal consumption and expenditure (PCE) price inflation ticked up to 3.1% year on year in January, slightly higher than expected.
Both personal income and personal spending rose 0.4% month on month in January, higher than expected.
Meanwhile, the fourth-quarter U.S. GDP growth was revised sharply downwards to 0.7% quarter on quarter from the initial estimate of 4.4%.
The U.S. Federal Reserve will decide on interest rates on Wednesday (March 18).
EUR/USD dropped 99 pips to 1.1411, down for a fourth straight session to a 7-month low.
USD/JPY gained 39 pips to 159.72.
GBP/USD fell 123 pips to 1.3218. U.K. data showed no growth in GDP on a monthly basis in January.
AUD/USD dropped 93 pips (-1.31%) to 0.6981.
USD/CHF advanced 56 pips to 0.7914.
USD/CAD climbed 87 pips to 1.3725. Canada’s data showed that 108,400 people lost full-time employment in February, the biggest loss since January 2022.
Bitcoin continued its recent rebound, returning to levels above 73,000 dollars over the weekend.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
In Asian trading hours, EUR/USD rebounded to 1.1449 and GBP/USD bounced to 1.3255.
Meanwhile, USD/JPY eased to 159.60.
Data showed that China's industrial production rose 6.3% year-on-year in January-February, above 5.0% expected, and retail sales grew 2.8%, above 1.1% estimated.
Gold remained subdued at 5,003 dollars.
Bitcoin was steady at 72,554 dollars.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
In the U.S., the Empire State manufacturing index is expected to drop to 3.0 in March, while industrial production is anticipated to grow 0.3% month-on-month in February.
Canada's inflation rate is estimated to slow to 2.1% year-on-year in February.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
