Morning Insights Tuesday 15 February 2022
Global Markets Update
U.S. MARKETS
Equity markets closed mostly lower overnight. With the S&P 500 down -0.4%, NASDAQ flat and Dow Jones declining -0.5%. As concerns over Fed’s aggressive monetary policy tightening resurfaced after Fed Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said that the central bank needs to move forward its plans to raise rates to underline its inflation-fighting credibility.
Long-dated U.S. treasury yields were higher, with the 2-Yr yield at 1.574% and the 10-Yr yield at 1.991%.
EUROPEAN MARKETS
European equity markets closed lower overnight, with Stoxx Europe 600 down -1.8%, U.K. FTSE 100 down -1.7% and German DAX declining -2.0%. As investors mulled the risks from geopolitical concerns surrounding Ukraine and assessed the impact of tightening monetary policy on global growth.
ASIAN MARKETS
Asian equity markets closed lower overnight. W ith the Shanghai Composite down -1.0%, Hang Seng down -1.4%, KOSPI down -1.6% and Nikkei 225 declining -2.2%, as rising oil price sparked inflation concerns. India’s retail inflation breached the upper end of RBI’s 2-6% target range for the first time in seven months in January, with CPI rising +6.01% yoy, driven by rising cost of food and fuel.
WTI oil is trading at US$94.96 a barrel. Iron ore price is at US$135.87 per ton. Spot gold is trading at US$1,872 per oz.
