Market Talk – March 15, 2019

Asia:

At the conclusion of the annual National People’s Congress meeting, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said that Beijing is prepared to support a slowing economy by cutting reserve requirements and interest rates if needed. Followed by the good news, the Shanghai Composite index increased 31.07 points (+1.04%) to 3,022 this Friday.

The rest of the major stock markets in Asia had a green day as well: NIKKEI 225 increased 163.83 points (0.77%) to 21,451, SENSEX increased 269.43 points (0.71%) to 38,024, KOSPI and Hang Seng increased 20.43 points (0.95%) to 2,176 and 160.87 points (0.56%) to 29,012 respectfully. However, ASX 200 took the opposite route decreased 4.40 points (-0.07%) to 6,175.

The major Asian currency markets experienced a mixed day. The AUDUSD and the NZDUSD increased 0.0022 or 0.30% to 0.7086 and 0.0025 or 0.36% to 0.6846 respectfully. The USDJPY and the USDCNY took the opposite route, decreasing 0.2260 or -0.20% to 111.4740 and 0.0087 or -0.13% to 6.7123 respectfully.

Both gold and silver closed in the green today: gold increased 5.87 USD/t oz. or 0.45% to 1,299.47 and silver increased 0.13 USD/t. oz or 0.86% to 15.3094.

Some data from yesterday late evening:

• Indonesian’s Trade Balance (Feb) increased from -1.16B to 0.33B
• Japan’s BoJ Interest Rate Decision remain the same at -0.10%
• China-House Prices (YoY) (Feb) increased from 10.0% to 10.4%
• China-FDI (Feb) increased from 4.8% to 5.5%

India posted new economic data today:

• Indian- Exports (USD) (Feb) increased from 26.36B to 26.67B
• Indian- Imports (USD) (Feb) decreased from 41.09B to 36.26B
• Indian-Trade Balance (Feb) increased from -14.73B to -9.6B

Europe:

The European major stock markets closed on a positive note this Friday. The FTSE 100 rose over 42 points (+0.6%) to 7228.28; CAC 40 increased over 55 points (+1.04%) to 5405.32 and DAX increased over 98 points (+0.85%) to 11685.69.

All the major European currencies increased against USD today.

The EURUSD increased 0.0019 or 0.17% to 1.1321 and The GBPUSD increased 0.0043 or 0.33% to 1.3282. The USDCHF decreased 0.0011 or 0.11% to 1.0026

Some economics news from Europe:

• Eurozone- Core CPI (YoY) (Feb) decreased from 1.1% to 1.0%
• Eurozone- Core CPI (MoM) (Feb) remain the same at 0.3%
• Eurozone- CPI (MoM) (Feb) increased from -1.0% to 0.3%
• Eurozone- CPI (YoY) (Feb) increased from 1.4% to 1.5%
• German WPI (MoM) (Feb) increased from -0.7% to 0.3%
• German WPI (YoY) (Feb) increased from 1.1% to 1.6%
• Norway- Trade Balance (Feb) decreased from 28.8B to 15.8B
• Italian Industrial New Orders (MoM) (Jan) increased from -1.4% to 1.8%
• Italian Industrial New Orders (YoY) (Jan) increased from -4.7% to -1.2%
• Italian Industrial Sales (MoM) (Jan) increased from -3.6% to 3.1%
• Italian Industrial Sales (YoY) (Jan) increased from -7.4% to 0.6%
• Italian CPI (MoM) (Feb) remain the same at 0.1%
• Italian CPI (YoY) (Feb) remain the same at 1.0%
• Italian HICP (YoY) (Feb) remain the same at 1.1%
• Italian HICP (MoM) (Feb) remain the same at -0.3%

U.S./Americas:

Wall Street ended the week on a bullish note after all major U.S. indexes closed in the green today. The Dow rose over 138 points (+0.54%, 25848.87 close), thanks in part by the recovery of Boeing shares. The S&P 500 closed its best week of the year (+2.9% on a weekly basis), with a daily gain of 14 points (+0.50%, 2822.48 close). The Nasdaq Composite rose by over 57 points (+0.76%, 7688.53 close), while the Russell 2K closed up over 3 points (+0.25%, 1553.54 close).

On the corporate side, semiconductor stocks had a particularly good day today: Broadcom Inc (AVGO) is up +8.24%, iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) gained +2.9%, Acacia Communications, Inc. (ACIA) rose +1.35%, and Xilinx, Inc. (XLNX) rose +1.38%.

In Washington, President Trump vetoed a bill that would undo his national emergency declaration. “Congress has the freedom to pass this resolution, and I have the duty to veto it,” the President said. This was his first veto as President. This won’t be the last of it.

The USD Index slid -0.25% this Friday (last reading 96.55). The USD/CAD remained largely unchanged (+0.08%, last reading 1.3345).

Canadian indexes ended the week in positive territory. The TSX Composite rose +0.33% (16140.35 close) and the TSX 60 gained +0.38% (963.37 close).

Brazil’s Bovespa closed at 99,136.33 (+0.54%).

Energy:

A red day for oil markets: Crude oil decreased 0.22 USD/BBL or 0.38% to 58.5047; Brent decreased 0.24 USD/BBL or 0.36% to 67.1165; Natural gas decreased 0.054 USD/MMBtu or 1.89% to 2.7959; Gasoline decreased 0.0027 USD/GAL or 0.15% to 1.8466 and Heating oil decreased 0.021 USD/GAL or 1.06% to 1.9626.

Top commodity gainers were Oat (6.54%), Lean Hogs (4.56%) and Corn (3.18%), while the biggest losers were Rubber (-1.94%), Heating oil (-1.06%) and Natural gas (-1.89%).

Bonds:

Japan -0.04%(+1bp), US 2’s 2.47% (+1bps), US 10’s 2.63%(+0bps), US 30’s 3.05%(+4bps), Bunds 0.09% (+0bp), France 0.46% (-1bp), Italy 2.50% (-0bp), Turkey 15.69% (+38bp), Greece 3.80% (-2bp), Portugal 1.31% (-2bp), Spain 1.21% (+1bp) and UK Gilts 1.21% (-1bp).