ASIA:

A prolonged slowdown in China’s economic growth could hurt some multinational companies and commodity producers for years to come, casting a shadow over the global recovery from the pandemic—but likely not derailing it entirely. Sputtering momentum in China’s economy—which accounts for about 15% of global trade and a quarter of projected global economic growth in the five years through 2026—is already weighing on prices for commodities like iron ore and making it harder for some companies to grow their businesses.

The major Asian stock markets had a green day today:
• NIKKEI 225 increased 295.35 points or 1.08% to 27,579.87
• Shanghai increased 27.32 points or 0.79% to 3,479.95
• Hang Seng increased 500.50 points or 2.06% to 24.829.99
• ASX 200 increased 81.60 points or 1.14% to 7,268.30
• Kospi increased 22.38 points or 0.81% to 2,768.85
• SENSEX increased 657.39 points or 1.14% to 58,465.97
• Nifty50 increased 197.05 points or 1.14% to 17,463.80

The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today:
• AUDUSD increased 0.00334 or 0.47% to 0.71807
• NZDUSD increased 0.00338 or 0.51% to 0.66843
• USDJPY decreased 0.171 or -0.15% to 115.431
• USDCNYdecreased 0.00144 or -0.02% to 6.36577

Precious Metals:
• Gold increased 8.4 USD/t oz. or 0.46% to 1,833.88
• Silver increased 0.142 USD/t. oz or 0.61% to 23.318

Some economic news from last night:
Japan:
M2 Money Stock (YoY) decreased from 3.7% to 3.6%
M3 Money Supply (Jan) increased from 2,011.8T to 2,018.4T
Australia：
Westpac Consumer Sentiment (Feb) increased from -2.0% to -1.3%

Some economic news from today
Japan:
Machine Tool Orders (YoY) increased from 40.5% to 61.4%
Hong Kong:
Foreign Reserves (USD) (Jan) decreased from 496.90B to 492.50B
India:
M3 Money Supply decreased from 9.1% to 8.4%

EUROPE/EMEA:

The European Union has announced a €43bn ($48bn) plan to overcome its dependency on Asian computer chip makers as governments and businesses around the world battle with a global supply chain crisis that experts believe could persist for much of the year. The EU move mirrors Joe Biden’s $52bn push to invest in a national chip-producing sector to make sure more production occurs in the United States, and one expert said it highlighted how the pandemic was reshaping the world economy.

The major Europe stock markets had a green day:
• CAC 40increased 102.47 points or 1.46% to 7,130.88
• FTSE 100 increased 76.35 points or 1.01% to 7,643.42
• DAX 30 increased 239.63 points or 1.57% to 15,482.01

The major Europe currency markets had a mixed day today:
• EURUSD increased 0.0025 or 0.22% to 1.14433
• GBPUSD increased 0.00083 or 0.06% to 1.35536
• USDCHFdecreased 0.00241 or -0.26% to 0.92280


Some economic news from Europe today:
Germany:
Gemran Current Account Balance n.s.a (Dec) increased from 18.9B to 23.9B
German Exports (MoM) (Dec) decreased from 1.8% to 0.9%
German Imports (MoM) (Dec) increased from 3.4% to 4.7%
German Trade Balance (Dec) decreased from 10.8B to 6.8B
Italy:
Italian Industrial Production (MoM) (Dec) decreased from 2.1% to -1.0%
Italian Industrial Production (YoY) (Dec) decreased from 6.6% to 4.4%

US/AMERICAS:

The markets are anxiously awaiting the January inflation report set to be released tomorrow. Analysts are expecting another month of extreme price hikes around 7%. The White House is currently doing damage control, with Secretary Psaki stating that they would not be surprised if inflation surpasses 7%. The current 7% level of inflation marks a 39-year high that is unsustainable for the US economy.

US Market Closings:

• Dow advanced 305.28 points or 0.86% to 35,768.06
• S&P 500 advanced 65.64 points or 1.45% to 4,587.18
• Nasdaq advanced 295.92 points or 2.08% to 14,490.37
• Russell 2000 advanced 38.13 points or 1.86% to 2,083.5

Canada Market Closings:

• TSX Composite advanced 227.01 points or 1.06% to 21,604.19
• TSX 60 advanced 11.48 points or 0.88% to 1,311.03

Brazil Market Closing:

• Bovespa advanced 226.93 points or 0.2% to 112,461.39

ENERGY:

The oil markets had a mixed day today:
• Crude Oil increased 0.24 USD/BBL or 0.27% to 89.6000
• Brent increased 0.64 USD/BBL or 0.71% to 91.4200
• Natural gas decreased 0.233 USD/MMBtu or -5.48% to 4.0150
• Gasoline increased 0.026 USD/GAL or 0.99% to 2.6511
• Heating oil increased 0.0271 USD/GAL or 0.97% to 2.8197

The above data was collected around 12:39 EST on Wednesday 


• Top commodity gainers: Copper (3.16%) and Coffee (2.75%), Rhodium (5.76%), Lumber (3.88%)
• Top commodity losers: Orange Juice (-0.63%), Bitumen(-5.09%), Methanol(-3.11%) and Natural Gas(-5.48%)

The above data was collected around 12:48 EST on Wednesday.


BONDS: 

Japan 0.215%(+0.6bp), US 2’s 1.3360% (-0.01%), US 10’s 1.9252% (-3.98bps); US 30’s 2.2298% (-0.03%), Bunds 0.219% (-4.5bp), France 0.676% (-4.2bp), Italy 1.771% (-8.2bp), Turkey 21.13% (-36bp), Greece 2.466% (+15.3bp), Portugal 1.042% (-2.1bp); Spain 1.097% (-3.4bp) and UK Gilts 1.43% (-6.1bp).