Market Talk – March 8, 2023

ASIA:

The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today:

• NIKKEI 225 increased 135.03 points or 0.48% to 28,444.19
• Shanghai decreased 1.85 points or -0.06% to 3,283.25
• Hang Seng decreased 483.23 points or -2.35% to 20,051.25
• ASX 200 decreased 56.90 points or -0.77% to 7,307.80
• Kospi decreased 31.44 points or -1.28% to 2,431.91
• SENSEX decreased 15.54 points or -0.03% to 60,208.92
• Nifty50 increased 42.95 points or 0.24% to 17,754.40

The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today:

• AUDUSD increased 0.0026 or 0.40% to 0.66080
• NZDUSD increased 0.001 or 0.16% to 0.61160
• USDJPY decreased 0.261 or -0.19% to 136.879
• USDCNY decreased 0.03646 or -0.52% to 6.95724

Precious Metals:

• Gold increased 6.82 USD/t oz. or 0.38% to 1,820.34
• Silver increased 0.067 USD/t. oz or 0.33% to 20.120

Some economic news from last night:

Japan:

Adjusted Current Account (Jan) decreased from 118.39T to 21.63T

Current Account n.s.a. (Jan) decreased from 0.033T to -1.977T

Some economic news from today:

Japan:

Coincident Indicator (MoM) (Jan) decreased from -0.2% to -3.0%

Leading Index (MoM) (Jan) remain the same at -0.4%

Leading Index decreased from 96.9 to 96.5

Economy Watchers Current Index (Feb) increased from 48.5 to 52.0

India:

M3 Money Supply remain the same at 9.5%

EUROPE/EMEA:

The major Europe stock markets had a mixed day:

• CAC 40 decreased 14.51 points or -0.20% to 7,324.76
• FTSE 100 increased 10.44 points or 0.13% to 7,929.92
• DAX 30 increased 72.34 points or 0.46% to 15,631.87

The major Europe currency markets had a mixed day today:

• EURUSD increased 0.00053 or 0.05% to 1.05523
• GBPUSD increased 0.00065 or 0.05% to 1.18335
• USDCHF decreased 0.00126 or -0.13% to 0.94024

Some economic news from Europe today:

Germany:

German Industrial Production (MoM) (Jan) increased from -2.4% to 3.5%

German Retail Sales (MoM) (Jan) increased from -5.3% to -0.3%

Euro Zone:

GDP (YoY) (Q4) decreased from 2.3% to 1.8%

GDP (QoQ) (Q4) decreased from 0.3% to 0.0%

US/AMERICAS:

ADP released its monthly report that showed an increasingly tightened labor market in the US. Payrolls rose by 242,000 in February, well above the 119,000 positions incorporated in January (revised up from 106,000). Wage growth came in at a 7.2% annual increase, while those who changed jobs saw a wage increase of 14.3%. ADP’s chief economist Nela Richardson called the labor market conditions a “trade off.” “We’re seeing robust hiring, which is good for the economy and workers, but pay growth is still quite elevated. The modest slowdown in pay increases, on its own, is unlikely to drive down inflation rapidly in the near-term.” Leisure and hospitality saw the most notable gains (83,000), followed by financial services (62,000), and manufacturing (43,000). The Labor Department will release its monthly nonfarm payrolls report this Friday, a closer indicator of the true labor conditions in America.

US Market Closings:

• Dow declined 58.06 points or -0.18% to 32,798.4
• S&P 500 advanced 5.64 points or -.14% to 3,992.01
• Nasdaq advanced 45.67 points or 0.4% to 11,576.00
• Russell 2000 advanced 0.75 of a point or 0.04% to 1,879.48

Canada Market Closings:

• TSX Composite advanced 70.99 points or 0.35% to 20,346.53
• TSX 60 advanced 4.59 points or 0.38% to 1,224.03

Brazil Market Closing:

• Bovespa advanced 2,312.39 points or 2.22% to 106,540.32

ENERGY:

The oil markets had a negative day today:

• Crude Oil decreased 1.138 USD/BBL or -1.47% to 76.442
• Brent decreased 0.954 USD/BBL or -1.15% to 82.336
• Natural gas decreased 0.1329 USD/MMBtu or -4.95% to 2.5541
• Gasoline decreased 0.0404 USD/GAL or -1.50% to 2.6603
• Heating oil decreased 0.0748 USD/GAL or -2.67% to 2.7227

The above data was collected around 11:10 EST on Wednesday

• Top commodity gainers: Copper (1.95%), Platinum (1.53%), Oat (1.92%) and HRC Steel (1.63%)
• Top commodity losers: Rice (-1.62%), Heating Oil (-2.67%), Natural Gas (-4.95%) and Rubber (-1.94%)

The above data was collected around 11:15 EST Wednesday.

BONDS:

Japan 0.505% (+0.4bp), US 2’s 5.00% (-0.006%), US 10’s 3.9227% (-5.23bps); US 30’s 3.83% (-0.053%), Bunds 2.627% (-6.8bp), France 3.123% (-6.5bp), Italy 4.402% (-11.9bp), Turkey 11.53% (+0bp), Greece 4.463% (-4.5bp), Portugal 3.503% (-8.2bp); Spain 3.644% (-7.8bp) and UK Gilts 3.742% (-7.8bp).

The post Market Talk – March 8, 2023 first appeared on Armstrong Economics.