ASIA:

China denied on Friday it was planning to hit e-commerce giant Alibaba with a record fine of almost $1 billion for allegedly flouting monopoly rules, as authorities turned up the pressure on the country’s vast technology sector. Alibaba, China’s largest online shopping portal, has been in the crosshairs of authorities in recent months over concerns of its reach into the daily finances of ordinary Chinese people. The market’s regulator denied it was planning to fine the company almost $1 billion for anti-competitive behavior, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, who cited unnamed sources “familiar” with the matter.

India is likely to block its mobile carriers from using telecom equipment made by China’s Huawei, Reuters reported. New Delhi is wary about awarding new technology business to Chinese firms both because of security fears and a desire to get Indian manufacturers to produce more telecoms equipment. A U.S. campaign to curb Huawei has triggered bans or limits on the use of its equipment around the world but the situation in India has been amplified by strained relations between New Delhi and Beijing over their shared border. India’s telecoms department said on Wednesday that after June 15 carriers can only buy certain types of equipment from government-approved “trusted sources” and said New Delhi could also create a “no procurement” blacklist. Huawei is likely to feature on this embargoed list, the two officials, who declined to be named, told Reuters.

The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today:

• NIKKEI 225 increased 506.19 points or 1.73% to 29,717.83
• Shanghai increased 16.25 points or 0.47% to 3,453.08
• Hang Seng decreased 645.89 points or -2.20% to 28,739.72
• ASX 200 increased 52.90 points or 0.79% to 6,766.80
• Kospi increased 40.69 points or 1.35% to 3,054.39
• SENSEX decreased 487.43 points or -0.95% to 50,792.08
• Nifty50 decreased 143.85 points or -0.95% to 15,030.95

The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today:

• AUDUSD decreased 0.00345 or -0.44% to 0.77545
• NZDUSD decreased 0.00553 or -0.76% to 0.71741
• USDJPY increased 0.49 or 0.45% to 109.03
• USDCNY increased 0.02026 or 0.31% to 6.50122

Precious Metals:

• Gold decreased 11.22 USD/t oz. or -0.65% to 1,710.19
• Silver decreased 0.452 USD/t. oz or -1.73% to 25.625

Some economic news from last night:

China:

China Thomson Reuters IPSOS PCSI (Mar) increased from 67.37 to 72.69

Japan:

BSI Large Manufacturing Conditions (Q1) decreased from 21.6 to 1.6

Thomson Reuters IPSOS PCSI (Mar) increased from 35.84 to 40.29

New Zealand：

Business NZ PMI (Feb) decreased from 57.5 to 53.4

Some economic news from today:

China:

FDI (Feb) increased from 4.60% to 31.50%

India:

Bank Loan Growth remain the same at 6.6%

Deposit Growth increased from 11.8% to 12.1%

FX Reserves, USD decreased from 584.55B to 580.30

CPI (YoY) (Feb) increased from 4.06% to 5.03%

Cumulative Industrial Production (Jan) increased from -13.50% to -12.20%

Industrial Production (YoY) (Jan) decreased from 1.6% to -1.6%

Manufacturing Output (MoM) (Jan) decreased from 2.1% to -2.0%

EUROPE/EMEA:

Britain’s exports to Europe collapsed in January as companies grappled with new terms of trade following Brexit. The United Kingdom exported goods worth £8.1 billion ($11.3 billion) to the European Union in its first month completely outside the bloc, a 41% decline compared to December, according to the Office for National Statistics. The drop-off in trade is similar when compared to January 2020, ONS data shows. According to the ONS, exports of food and live animals including seafood to the European Union decreased by nearly 64% in January compared to the previous month.

The major Europe stock markets had a mixed day:

• CAC 40 increased 12.79 points or 0.21% to 6,046.55
• FTSE 100 increased 24.51 points or 0.36% to 6,761.47
• DAX 30 decreased 67.00 points or -0.46% to 14,502.39

The major Europe currency markets had a mixed day today:

• EURUSD decreased 0.00384 or -0.32% to 1.19441
• GBPUSD decreased 0.00821 or -0.59% to 1.39077
• USDCHF increased 0.00405 or 0.44% to 0.92878

Some economic news from Europe today:

UK:

Inflation Expectations remain the same at 2.7%

NIESR Monthly GDP Tracker decreased from -1.7% to -2.0%

U.K. Construction Output (YoY) (Jan) increased from -3.9% to -3.0%

Construction Output (MoM) (Jan) increased from -2.9% to 0.9%

GDP (MoM) decreased from 1.2% to -2.9%

GDP (YoY) decreased from -8.6% to -9.2%

Index of Services decreased from 0.6% to -2.4%

Industrial Production (YoY) (Jan) decreased from -3.3% to -4.9%

Industrial Production (MoM) (Jan) decreased from 0.2% to -1.5%

Manufacturing Production (YoY) (Jan) decreased from -2.5% to -5.2%

Manufacturing Production (MoM) (Jan) decreased from 0.3% to -2.3%

Monthly GDP 3M/3M Change decreased from 1.0% to -1.7%

Trade Balance (Jan) increased from -14.32B to -9.83B

Trade Balance Non-EU (Jan) increased from -5.20B to -1.76B

Germany:

German CPI (MoM) (Feb) decreased from 0.8% to 0.7%

German CPI (YoY) (Feb) increased from 1.0% to 1.3%

German HICP (YoY) (Feb) remain the same at 1.6%

German HICP (MoM) (Feb) decreased from 1.4% to 0.6%

Spain:

Spanish CPI (MoM) (Feb) decreased from 0.0% to -0.6%

Spanish CPI (YoY) (Feb) decreased from 0.5% to 0.0%

Spanish HICP (MoM) (Feb) remain the same at -0.6%

Spanish HICP (YoY) (Feb) decreased from 0.4% to -0.1%

Spanish Retail Sales (YoY) (Jan) decreased from -1.5% to -9.5%

Italy:

Italian Quarterly Unemployment Rate decreased from 9.6% to 9.2%

Euro Zone:

Industrial Production (MoM) (Jan) increased from -0.1% to 0.8%

Industrial Production (YoY) (Jan) increased from -0.2% to 0.1%

US/AMERICAS:

The Dow made yet another all-time high today after advancing over 290 points to 32,778.64. Boeing’s BA stellar performance this week led the Dow this Friday after advancing 6.71% from yesterday’s session. Caterpillar CAT (4.23%), Walgreens WBA (3.28%), Goldman Sachs GS (1.94%), and Home Depot HD (1.61%) all made the most notable improvements in today’s session.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) stated that stimulus checks could be distributed as soon as this weekend. Americans who received their taxes through direct deposit will be the first to see the funds in their accounts. Those who qualify but did not file their taxes with a direct deposit option will receive physical checks or debit cards in the mail, which will take longer to process. The IRS plans to use tax information from 2020 to determine who qualifies for the $1,400 pay out.

The US will team up with Australia, Japan, and India to distribute nearly one billion coronavirus vaccinations to developing nations in the Indo-Pacific by the end of next year. The four nations, referred to as “the Quad” by certain media outlets, are aiming to collaborate on numerous topics to counter China’s influence over the region. A national US security adviser told outlets that the virtual summit included discussions of the coup in Myanmar, denuclearizing North Korea, and “freedom of navigation and freedom from coercion” in the East and South China Sea.

According to a recent survey, the average American worker saved 8.6 days of their life over the course of 12 months by not commuting to work. Major companies such as Amazon, Facebook, Square, Spotify, Twitter, and Microsoft are increasingly moving to remote work. According to the Pew Research Center, over half of Americans polled stated that they would like to continue working from home indefinitely. People cited shorter or non-existent commute times, a better work-life balance, and the opportunity to live where they wish as reasons for wishing to work remotely.

US Market Closings:

• Dow advanced 293.05 points or 0.9% to 32,778.64
• S&P 500 advanced 4 points or 0.1% to 3,943.34
• Nasdaq declined 78.81 points or -0.59% to 13,319.87
• Russell 2000 advanced 14.25 points or 0.61% to 2,352.79

Canada Market Closings:

• TSX Composite advanced 6.75 points or 0.04% to 18,851.32
• TSX 60 advanced 0.26 of a point or 0.02% to 1,121.71

Brazil Market Closing:

• Bovespa declined 823.36 points or -0.72% to 114,160.4

ENERGY:

The oil markets had a mixed day today:

• Crude Oil increased 0.02 USD/BBL or 0.03% to 66.0400
• Brent decreased 0.07 USD/BBL or -0.10% to 69.5600
• Natural gas decreased 0.013 USD/MMBtu or -0.49% to 2.6550
• Gasoline increased 0.0174 USD/GAL or 0.81% to 2.1554
• Heating oil increased 0.0095 USD/GAL or 0.48% to 1.9689

• Top commodity gainers: Palm Oil (1.26%), Tin (1.12%), Orange Juice (3.92%) and Lumber (2.67%)
• Top commodity losers: Iron Ore 62% fe (-1.76%), Sugar (-1.41%), Corn (-1.35%), and Silver (-1.73%)

The above data was collected around 11:46 EST on Friday.

BONDS:

Japan 0.12%(+1bp), US 2’s 0.00%(+0.01%), US 10’s 1.63%(+10bps); US 30’s 2.00%(+0.09%), Bunds -0.31% (+5bp), France -0.09% (+0bp), Italy 0.63% (+3bp), Turkey 13.59% (+8bp), Greece 0.82% (+4bp), Portugal 0.21% (+2bp); Spain 0.34% (+3bp) and UK Gilts 0.83% (+9bp).