Market Talk – March 21, 2023

ASIA:

The major Asian stock markets had a green day today:

• NIKKEI 225 closed
• Shanghai increased 20.74 points or 0.64% to 3,255.65
• Hang Seng increased 258.05 points or 1.36% to 19,258.76
• ASX 200 increased 56.90 points or 0.82% to 6,955.40
• Kospi increased 9.15 points or 0.38% to 2,388.35
• SENSEX increased 445.73 points or 0.77% to 58,074.68
• Nifty50 increased 119.10 points or 0.70% to 17,107.50

The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today:

• AUDUSD decreased 0.00599 or -0.89% to 0.66581
• NZDUSD decreased 0.0072 or -1.15% to 0.61740
• USDJPY increased 1.239 or 0.94% to 132.549
• USDCNY increased 0.00661 or 0.10% to 6.87941

Precious Metals:

• Gold decreased 41.36 USD/t oz. or -2.09% to 1,937.35
• Silver decreased 0.259 USD/t. oz or -1.15% to 22.261

Some economic news from last night:

New Zealand:

Trade Balance (MoM) (Feb) increased from -2,113M to -714M

Trade Balance (YoY) (Feb) increased from -15,650M to -15,640M

Some economic news from today:

New Zealand:

GlobalDairyTrade Price Index decreased from -0.7% to -2.6%

EUROPE/EMEA:

The major Europe stock markets had a green day:

• CAC 40 increased 99.77 points or 1.42% to 7,112.91
• FTSE 100 increased 132.37 points or 1.79% to 7,536.22
• DAX 30 increased 261.96 points or 1.75% to 15,195.34

The major Europe currency markets had a mixed day today:

• EURUSD increased 0.00411 or 0.38% to 1.07601
• GBPUSD decreased 0.00759 or -0.62% to 1.22001
• USDCHF decreased 0.0059 or -0.64% to 0.92300

Some economic news from Europe today:

Germany:

German ZEW Current Conditions (Mar) decreased from -45.1 to -46.5

German ZEW Economic Sentiment (Mar) decreased from 28.1 to 13.0

Euro Zone:

ZEW Economic Sentiment (Mar) decreased from 29.7 to 10.0

US/AMERICAS:

Mortgage applications rose in February in the US as home prices began to cool. The National Association of Realtors reported a 14.5% rise in February compared to the month prior, which marks the highest monthly gain in home sales since July 2020. The homes compiled in this data likely closed on contracts between December and January when mortgage rates dipped. The median price of a home is now $363,000, marking a 0.2% decrease YoY, but mortgage payments are still higher for buyers due to rates. Mortgage supply across the nation has remained flat with only 980,000 homes available as of February. Around 28% of home purchases were all-cash transactions.

US Market Closings:

• Dow advanced 316.02 points or 0.98% to 32,560.6
• S&P 500 advanced 51.3 points or 1.3% to 4,002.87
• Nasdaq advanced 184.57 points or 1.58% to 11,860.11
• Russell 2000 advanced 32.75 points or 1.88% to 1,777.74

Canada Market Closings:

• TSX Composite advanced 135.49 points or 0.69% to 19,654.92
• TSX 60 advanced 8.37 points or 0.71% to 1,181.05

Brazil Market Closing:

• Bovespa advanced 75.24 points or 0.07% to 100,998.13

ENERGY:

The oil markets had a mixed day today:

• Crude Oil increased 1.51 USD/BBL or 2.23% to 69.330
• Brent increased 1.386 USD/BBL or 1.88% to 75.176
• Natural gas increased 0.0839 USD/MMBtu or 3.77% to 2.3069
• Gasoline decreased 0.0014 USD/GAL or -0.06% to 2.5346
• Heating oil decreased 0.0031 USD/GAL or -0.12% to 2.6840

The above data was collected around 14:49 EST on Tuesday

• Top commodity gainers: Natural Gas (3.77%), Crude Oil (2.23%), Sugar (1.56%) and Brent (1.88%)
• Top commodity losers: Platinum (-1.86%), Wheat (-2.97%), Rapeseed (-2.81%) and Gold (-2.09%)

The above data was collected around 14:55 EST Tuesday.

BONDS:

Japan 0.250% (-3bp), US 2’s 4.18% (+0.253%), US 10’s 3.6056% (+12.86bps); US 30’s 3.73% (+0.070%), Bunds 2.292% (+19.3bp), France 2.818% (+15.6bp), Italy 4.111% (+13.2bp), Turkey 11.81% (+23bp), Greece 4.228% (+13.9bp), Portugal 3.144% (+13bp); Spain 3.342% (+15.3bp) and UK Gilts 3.362% (+5.3bp).

The post Market Talk – March 21, 2023 first appeared on Armstrong Economics.