Asia:
China’s imports fell unexpectedly in March as COVID-19 bans across a large part of the country hampered freight arrivals and weakened domestic demand, while export growth slowed, prompting analysts to expect trade to deteriorate in the second quarter. Customs data showed Wednesday, marking the first decline since August 2020, when inbound shipments in March fell 0.1% from a year earlier. That compares with a 15.5% gain in the first two months of the year and an 8% growth forecast by analysts in a Reuters survey. The fall was massive. China’s crude oil imports fell 14% in March, and gas imports were at their lowest level since October 2020. Copper purchases fell 8.8% as COVID outbreaks damaged production and industrial demand for some raw materials softened.
India’s retail inflation accelerated to around 7% a year in March, the highest in 17 months and for the third month in a row above the central bank’s tolerance band, pushing it to raise policy rates. Annual consumer price-based inflation touched 6.95% in March, driven by rising prices of fuel products and some food items. The print was 6.35% higher than the annual forecast by economists in a Reuters survey and 6.07% in the previous month.
Major Asian stock markets had mixed days today:I NIKKEI 225 rose 508.51 points or 1.93% to 26,843.49Shanghai fell 26.51 points, or -0.82%, to 3,186.82Hang Seng rose 55.24 points, or 0.26%, to 21,374.37X ASX 200 rose 25.00 points, or 0.34%, to 7,479.00• Cospy rose 49.73 points, or 1.86%, to 2,716.49The Sensex fell 237.44 points, or -0.41%, to 58,338.93• Nifty 50 decreased by 54.65 points or -0.31% to 17,475.65
Major Asian currency markets had mixed days today:• AUDUSD decreased 0.00343 or -0.46% to 0.74222• NZDUSD fell 0.00783 or -1.14% to 0.67802• USDJPY rose 0.229 or 0.18% to 125.687DC USDCNY rose 0.00097 or 0.02% to 6.37895
Precious Metals:• Gold rose 11.53 USD / t oz. Or 0.59% to 1,978.12Silver rose 0.384 USD / t. oz or 1.52% to 25.730
Some economic news from last night:China:Exports (YoY) (Mar) decreased from 16.3% to 14.7%Imports (YoY) (Mar) decreased from 15.5% to -0.1%Trade balance (USD) (Mar) decreased from 115.95B to 47.38BJapan:Reuters Tankan Index (April) rose from 8 to 11Core Machinery Order (YoY) (February) fell to 4.3% from 5.1%Core Machinery Order (MoM) (February) decreased from -2.0% to -9.8%M2 Money Stock (YoY) has risen from 3.6% to 3.5%M3 Money supply (March) increased from 2,019.2T to 2,025.0TSouth Korea:Unemployment rate (March) remains the same at 2.7%Australia:Westpac Consumer Sentiment (April) rose to -0.9% from -4.2%New Zealand:FPI (MoM) (Mar) increased from -0.1% to 0.7%The RBNZ interest rate has been decided from 1.00% to 1.50%
Today’s economic newsIndia:Exports (USD) (Mar) increased from 34.57B to 42.22BImports (USD) (Mar) increased from 55.45B to 60.74BTrade balance (March) increased from -20.88B to -18.51B ৷
EUROPE / EMEA:
President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that peace talks with Ukraine had reached a final stage, using his first public remarks on the conflict in more than a week to win his troops and persuade the West to fail to heal Moscow. In the strongest signal so far that the war will be more protracted, Putin said that Kyiv has derailed peace talks by claiming Russia’s war crimes and security guarantees to cover the whole of Ukraine.
Finland will decide in the next few weeks whether to apply to join the US-led NATO alliance, Prime Minister Sanaa Marin said on Wednesday, highlighting changes in the security landscape since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Finland and fellow Nordic states and neighboring Sweden are close allies of NATO but have moved away from joining the 30-member alliance established in 1949 to deal with the Soviet Union during the Cold War in 1949. Finland’s public opinion has taken a U-turn on NATO, with 68% of respondents in favor of joining a recent poll by private broadcaster MTV, with only 12% against.
Europe’s major stock markets had a mixed day:• CAC 40 rose 4.73 points, or 0.07%, to 6,542.14• The FTSE 100 rose 4.14 points, or 0.05%, to 7,580.80• DAX 30 decreased by 48.51 points or -0.34% to 14,076.44
Today was a green day in Europe’s major currency markets:• EURUSD rose 0.00397 or 0.37% to 1.08643• GBPUSD rose 0.00603 or 0.46% to 1.30617USDCHF rose 0.00127 or 0.14% to 0.93409
Today’s economic news from Europe:United Kingdom:The Home Price Index (YoY) has risen from 9.6% to 10.9%Basic CPI (YoY) (Mar) increased from 5.2% to 5.7%Core CPI MoM (MoM) (Mar) increased from 0.8% to 0.9%Core PPI output (YoY) (Mar) increased from 9.9% to 12.0%Core PPI output (MoM) (Mar) increased from 0.7% to 2.0%Core RPI (YoY) (Mar) increased from 8.3% to 9.1%Core RPI (MoM) (Mar) increased from 0.8% to 1.0%CPI (MoM) (Mar) increased from 0.8% to 1.1%CPI (YoY) (Mar) increased from 6.2% to 7.0%CPI, nsa (Mar) increased from 115.80 to 117.10PPI input (MoM) (Mar) increased from 1.8% to 5.2%PPI input (YoY) (Mar) increased from 15.1% to 19.2%PPI output (YoY) (Mar) increased from 10.2% to 11.9%PPI output (MoM) (Mar) increased from 0.9% to 2.0%RPI (MoM) (Mar) increased from 0.8% to 1.0%RPI (YoY) (Mar) increased from 8.2% to 9.0%Spain:Spanish CPI (MoM) (Mar) has risen from 0.8% to 3.0%Spanish CPI (YoY) (Mar) has risen from 7.6% to 9.8%Spanish HICP (MoM) (Mar) increased from 0.8% to 3.9%Spanish HICP (YoY) (Mar) increased from 7.6% to 9.8%Italy:Italian industrial production (YoY) (February) rose to 3.3% from -2.7%Italian industrial production (MoM) (February) rose to 4.0% from -3.4%
US / Americas:
On Wednesday came the news of more worrying inflation. In the United States, the producer price index (PPI) rose 1.4% in March, marking an 11.2% YoY increase. These levels have not been seen since 2010 Core PPI advanced 0.9% MoM, exceeding the 0.5% estimate, and increased 7% year on year. Producer demand rose 2.3% month-on-month in March, while service prices rose 0.9%. Energy has experienced a sharp rise as expected after a 5.7% advance and food prices have risen 2.4%.
US market closed:
- The Dow is up 344.23 points, or 1.01%, at 34,564.59
- The S&P 500 rose 49.14 points, or 1.12%, to 4,446.59
- The Nasdaq is up 272.02 points, or 2.03%, at 13,643.59
- Russell 2000 advanced 38.17 points or 1.92% to 2,025.1
Canada Market Closed:
- The TSX Composite advanced 122.61 points, or 0.56%, to 21,838.02
- The TSX 60 rose 4.43 points, or 0.34%, to 1,319.34
Brazil market closed:
- Bowespa is up 635.1 points, or 0.55%, at 116,781.96
Strength:
The oil market was a green day today:
Crude oil rose 2.14 USD / BBL or 2.13% to 102.740Brent rose 2.52 USD / BBL or 2.41% to 107.16• Natural gas rose 0.289 USD / MMBtu or 4.33% to 6.9690Petrol rose 0.0904 USD / GAL or 2.87% to 3.2442• Heating oil rose 0.1186 USD / GAL or 3.42% to 3.5830
The above information was collected around 11:42 EST on Wednesday
• Top product beneficiaries: heating oil (3.42%) and natural gas (4.33%), orange juice (5.81%), zinc (2.95%)• Top products damaged: wood (-1.40%), coffee (-3.32%), aluminum (-1.32%) and oats (-1.18%)
The above information was collected around 11:49 EST on Wednesday.
Bonds:
Japan 0.236% (- 0.4bp), US 2 2.32% (-0.088%), US 10 2.6666% (-6.04bps); 2.78% (-0.028%) of US 30, Bunds 0.770% (-2bp), France 1.269% (-3bp), Italy 2.382% (-2.9bp), Turkey 22.84% (-24bp), Greece 2.842% (-1bp) )), Portugal 1.788% (+ 12.5bp); Spain 1.715% (-1bp) and UK Gilts 1.81% (+ 0.6bp).