Market Update

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported on Thursday that the headline Manufacturing Activity Index of the Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey improved sharply to 51.8 in March from 23.1. This reading beat the market expectation of 23.1 by a wide margin.

A health official in Germany said today, Friday, that the number of Coronavirus cases is rising dramatically. Lars Shade, vice president of the Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases, urged people not to travel during the Easter holidays to contain the increase in cases. Today’s data of the Robert Koch …

Today, the Russian Central Bank raised the main interest rate to 4.5% in light of inflationary risks and at the geopolitical level, and hinted that more will follow. The decision to raise interest rates, from a record low of 4.25 percent, contrasted with a Reuters poll that expected Russia to …

Gold is on the path of achieving its second consecutive weekly gain today, as it is supported by a slight decline in the dollar and US Treasury revenues. Spot gold rose 0.3% to $1740.99 an ounce. And the yellow metal is up more than 0.6 percent since the beginning of …

Official data revealed today that the British government borrowed 19.1 billion pounds last month, less than the expectation in a poll conducted by Reuters to borrow 21 billion pounds (29.2 billion dollars), bringing borrowing in the first 11 months of the financial year to nearly 279 billion pounds.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index fell, while the Topix index reached its highest level in 30 years, as the Bank of Japan (BOJ) said it would only buy into index funds linked to Topix after a review of its policy framework. The Nikkei index closed down by 1.41% to 29,792.05 points, …

European stocks fell today, erasing a large part of its weekly gains, after France imposed new general isolation measures to curb the spread of the Corona virus, in light of indications of slowing vaccination in some countries. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.6%, tracing a negative session on Wall …

Speaking at the post-monetary policy meeting press conference, BOJ’s governor Haruhiko Kuroda commented on the current policy framework. It is appropriate to continue with the current policy framework.It is inappropriate to debate exit when inflation remains far from 2%.It is desirable for currency rates to reflect fundamentals, in a stable …

Gold prices fell today as the dollar held on to the gains it achieved in the previous session on the back of a rise in US Treasury yields, while the safe-haven metal was under heavy pressure due to the Fed’s expectations of a strong economic recovery. In spot trading, gold …

Oil prices fell for the sixth consecutive day, declining by about 9% in the week, as a new bout of Covid-19 cases, especially in Europe, imposed new general restrictive measures and dampened hopes for an imminent oil’s demand recovery. US West Texas Intermediate crude fell four cents, or 0.07 percent, …