Market Update

Wall Street stocks closed February on a noticeably shaky note, raising concerns about the resilience of a rise that began in early 2023. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had a solid start to the year in January, but it declined by 4.2% in February, bringing the blue-chip index’s annual decline …

Inflation in Germany, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), stayed unchanged at 8.7% on a yearly basis in February. This reading came in higher than the market expectation of 8.5%. On a monthly basis, the CPI was up 0.8%. Meanwhile, the annual Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), …

British house prices last month dropped by the most in more than 10 years, mortgage lender Nationwide said on Wednesday, adding to signs of a slowdown in the housing market in the face of high inflation and rising borrowing costs. The 1.1% fall was the biggest year-on-year drop since November …

The Russian ruble fell on Wednesday, March 1, as it lost the support it received from a period to pay taxes, and the Russian currency is still under pressure due to Western restrictions on Moscow’s energy exports, which reduces its foreign exchange earnings. At 07:12 GMT, the ruble fell 0.3% …

European stocks rallied thanks to miners and luxury products on Wednesday, after strong data from China reassured investors fearing an economic slowdown, while a decline in BNP Paribas, the euro zone’s largest bank, limited gains. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.2% by 0812 GMT, kicking off the month …

Japan’s Nikkei index extended gains to close higher on Wednesday as sentiment improved after data showed manufacturing activity in China expanded in February at the fastest pace in more than a decade. The Nikkei index closed up 0.26 percent at 27,516.53 points, after falling as much as 0.5 percent earlier …

China’s Caixin Manufacturing PMI returns to expansion with 51.6 in February vs. 50.2 expected and 49.2 previous, courtesy of the renewed increases in output, new orders and employment. Wang Zhe, Senior Economist at Caixin Insight Group said, “The recovery in manufacturing activity came as the most recent wave of Covid-19 …

Oil prices rose nearly 2 percent on Tuesday, erasing losses from the previous session, as hopes for a strong economic recovery in China offset concerns about a US interest rate hike that led to lower consumption in the world’s largest economy. Brent crude futures for April delivery, which expired on …

Gold prices continued to climb for a third session on Wednesday as the dollar weakened, however concerns over US interest rate hikes on the back of high inflation globally curbed gains. Spot gold rose 0.2 percent to $1,831.43 an ounce by 0536 GMT. US gold futures rose 0.1 percent to …

The US dollar managed to recover some of its early losses, but the day still ended unevenly. In spite of month-end flows, correlations were off, but risk aversion was unaffected. As Wall Street ended neutral, the majority of European indexes closed the day in the red.Key DevelopmentsThe focus was on …