North American News
US stocks close mixed for the day and mixed for the week
- Dow higher. Nasdaq and S&P close lower on the day
The major US indices are closing mixed for the day and mixed for the week.
For the trading day:
- Dow Industrial Average rose 129.84 points or 0.39% at 33826.70
- S&P index fell 11.32 points or -0.28% at 4079.10
- NASDAQ index fell -68.55 points or -0.58% at 11787.28
- Russell 2000 rose 4.144 points or 0.21% at 1946.35
For the trading week:
- Dow Industrial Average closed down -0.13%
- S&P index closed lower by -0.28%
- NASDAQ index was able to eke out a 0.59% gain
- Russell 2000 was the biggest gainer with a 1.435% increase
Looking at the Dow 30, the five biggest gainers for the day included:
- Merck, +2.81%
- Amgen +2.69%
- Unitedhealth +2.41%
- J&J +2.12%
- Procter & Gamble +2.10%
The biggest losers today included:
- Chevron -2.17%
- Intel -2.09%
- Salesforce -1.74%
- Microsoft -1.56%
- Home Depot -1.0%
US January import prices -0.2% vs -0.2% m/m expected
- US January 2023 import/export price data
- Prior was +0.4% (revised to -0.1%)
- Import prices +2.3% y/y
- Export prices +0.8% vs -0.2% expected
- Prior export prices -2.6% (revised to -3.2%)
- Non-petroleum import prices +0.2% m/m and +1.1% y/y
Fed’s Bowman: We’re seeing a lot of inconsistent data on economic conditions
- Comments from Bowman
- Your guess is as good as mine as to what happens next in the economy
- We are not seeing what we need to on inflation, numbers are jumping around a bit
- A long way to go to get inflation back to goal
- Wants to see a consistent decline in inflation
- Says she thought data before the latest meeting showed a moderation of inflation but most recent data ‘has been surprising”
- Recent data indicates we have yet to be effective and we need to raise rates until we reach a sufficiently restrictive level
US January leading indicators index -0.3% vs -0.3% expected
Fed’s Barkin: Not taking signal from jobs & retail sales due to seasonal adjustments
- Interesting comment from Barkin
- 25 bps rate path offers flexibility to respond to data
- There are absolutely some segments of the economy where inflation is slowing, some like food and utilities that’s less so
- Fed that on inflation the US is making ‘slow progress’
- Excess savings, fiscal spending and employers holding onto workers may be offsetting impact on Fed rate increases
- Controlling inflation will require more rate increases, how many “we’ll have to see”
- US labor market is still quite hot
- Sees as if shortages in labor supply will continue
Commodities
Gold: New concerns weigh on XAU/USD – Commerzbank
The correction of the Gold price has been pronounced. In the opinion of strategists at Commerzbank, investors on the Gold market are likely to remain hesitant after the price dip.
Forecast of the mid-year Gold price lowered to $1,800
“Hopes of an end to the rate hike cycle in the near future in the US have turned out to be premature. Currently, a troy ounce of Gold costs a good $130 less than it did at the beginning of the month. Presumably, a number of investors have had their fingers burnt.”
“In response to the Fed’s steeper rate hikes – we now expect rates to peak at 5.5% – we have lowered our forecast of the mid-year Gold price to $1,800 (previously $1,850).”
“A lasting recovery should ensue in the second half of the year, however, as the US economy is then likely to experience a dip that will probably spark renewed expectations of rate cuts. We are therefore sticking with our year-end forecast of $1,950.”
WTI crude oil futures settle at $76.34
- Down -$2.15 or -2.74%
The price of WTI crude futures is settling at $76.34. That’s down $2.15 or -2.74%.
The low price reached $75.32. High price was at $70.50.
Baker Hughes oil rig count 607 versus 609 last week
- Baker Hughes rig count for the current week
- Oil rigs 607 versus 609 last week. Down 2 on the week week
- Gas rigs 151 versus 150 last week. Up 1 on the week
- Total rigs 760 versus 761 last week. Down 1 on the week
EU News
European equity close: A modest stumble to end another strong week
- Closing changes in the main European bourses for the day and week
On the day:
- Stoxx 600 -0.2%
- German DAX -0.3%
- Francis CAC -0.2%
- UK’s FTSE 100 -0.2%
- Spain’s Ibex 0.0%
- Italy’s FTSE MIB -0.2%
On the week:
- Stoxx 600 +1.4%
- German DAX +1.2%
- Francis CAC +3.1%
- UK’s FTSE 100 +1.4%
- Spain’s Ibex +2.4%
- Italy’s FTSE MIB +1.5%
Other News
Top Pentagon official is reportedly to have arrived in Taiwan
- FT reports that Michael Chase, the deputy assistant secretary of defence for China, has arrived in Taiwan
This comes as relations between US and China continue to backslide amid the whole balloon situation in recent weeks. Chase’s visit will be the most high profile visit from a US official to Taiwan since Nancy Pelosi’s visit last August. As a reminder, that certainly sparked an angry response by Beijing.
So, let’s see what the reaction will be this time and if US-China relations will continue to sink to new lows from here. If so, it might be a risk that markets might have to take more seriously moving forward.
Cryptocurrency News
Binance denies report that it’s considering delisting all US-based cryptocurrencies
- Binance CEO says report is false
Binance Chief Executive Officer Changpeng Zhao denied that the exchange is considering delisting all US-based cryptocurrencies as the crypto industry prepares for a US crackdown.
“False” he tweeted in response to a headline.
He also address the main story in the Bloomberg report, that he is considering pulling back from US partners.
“We pulled back on some potential investments, or bids on bankrupt companies in the US for now,,” he wrote.
The initial report said Binance was considering ending relationships with US business partners after “its relationships with a key banking partner and stablecoin issuer ran into trouble amid intense scrutiny from authorities, according to a person familiar with the issue.”
The report said they were looking at severing ties with banks.
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