Market Overview
• Japan has avoided dropping into a fourth quarter recession with final GDP figures of 0.1% after -0.1% in the September quarter.
• US Non-Farm Payrolls rose 275,000 in February well above the 200k predicted. This underscores the Fed’s expectations of lower growth in 2024. Meanwhile the US unemployment rate jumped to 3.9% from 3.7% a two-year high.
• Chinese CPI rose in February the first time since August 2023 +0.7% y/y – expected 0.3%.
• ECB analysts support a June start to rate cuts.
• US Core inflation due Wednesday morning should reflect easing CPI with expectations of the inflation reading to show a touch below 3.9% to 3.7%. This could give the Fed all they need to start cutting rates in June this year.
• Canadian unemployment pops up to 5.8% in February from 5.7%
• Over 2 million people in the Gaza aren’t able to get enough food. This comes after 200,000 people have faced emergency hunger since December.
• The Japanese Yen (JPY) was the strongest currency last month while the weakest currency was the US Dollar (USD).