Market Update

The President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Thomas Barkin, called upon investors to focus on the Fed’s policy and its impact on economic recovery, instead of being distracted by expectations of when would interest rates or asset purchases be changed, Reuters reported. The Fed’s guidance “is as clear …

European stocks rose on Monday, amid a decline in treasury yields, and an improvement in investors’ sentiment due to positive news about Coronavirus vaccines. The STOXX Europe 600 index surged by 1.80% to close the first session of March at 412.27 points, amid a positive performance by most market sectors. …

The seasonally adjusted United States Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) registered a final reading of 58.6 in February, down from 59.2 in January, data by IHS Markit showed on Monday. This marked the second strongest performance by the U.S. manufacturing sector in almost 11 years. The reading indicated an upturn …

The manufacturing activity in the United States expanded last month to its best level in about three tears, as the American economy is recovering from the Coronavirus pandemic by recording its ninth consecutive month of growth. The February manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) increased by 2.1% in February to a …

Construction spending in the United States increased by 1.7% during January, as building new homes continues to rise, data by the U.S. Department of Commerce showed on Monday. Spending on residential construction projects grew by 2.5% in January, while single-family home projects rose 3%. Last week, data showed that new …

Inflation in Germany, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), edged lower to 0.7% on a monthly basis in February, Destatis reported in its flash estimate on Monday. Moreover, the annual CPI rose to 1.3% from 1% and came in higher than analysts’ estimate of 1.2%. Further details of …

The currency markets witnessed a lot of fluctuations in February, as the US dollar fell sharply over the past month, to fall to its lowest level in nearly two months against a basket of major currencies but quickly returned to correct its course, supported by high bond yields. The dollar …

Today’s survey showed that increased demand from China, the United States and Europe pushed the growth of factory activity in Germany to the highest level in more than three years in February, improving expectations for Europe’s largest economy. The final reading of the IHS Market PMI for the manufacturing sector, …

According to a recently conducted Reuters survey, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ total oil output in February declined by 870,000 barrels per day (bpd), marking the first monthly decline in eight months. “OPEC oil output fall led by Saudi Arabia; Nigeria posted the biggest increase,” Reuters reported

The UK manufacturing sector activity expanded at a faster pace than expected in the month of February. Today’s survey showed that British factories recorded the slowest rate of production growth since May in February, as supply chain disruptions and rising costs linked to Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union and Covid-19 …