How’dy USA

In US economic data, retail sales rose by 0.3% in January, in line with forecasts, to be up 4.4% on the year. Excluding autos, sales also rose 0.3%. Industrial production fell 0.3% in January, (forecast -0.2%). Export prices rose 0.7% in January (forecast - 0.1%). Import prices were flat (forecast -0.2%). Consumer sentiment rose from 99.8 to 100.9 in February (forecast 99.5).

US share markets were mixed on Friday. Economic data was soft but largely met forecasts. Investors squared positions at the end of the week and ahead of a holiday weekend. Shares in chipmaker Nvidia rose 7% after releasing its earnings result. Shares in online travel company Expedia rose 11% after it forecast strong core quarterly earnings growth. At the close of trade, the Dow Jones index was lower by 25 points or 0.1%. The S&P500 index rose by 0.2% to record highs and the Nasdaq rose 19 points or 0.2% to record highs. Over the week the Dow rose 1.0%, S&P 500 rose 1.6% and the Nasdaq rose 2.2%.

US treasuries rose on Friday (yields lower) as traders adopted a cautious stance ahead of the Presidents Day weekend. US 2-year yields fell by 1 point to 1.43% and US 10-year yields fell by 3 points to near 1.59%. Over the week US 2-year yields rose by 3 points with US 10-year yields up 1 point.

Bonjour Europe

European share markets closed mixed as traders squared positions ahead of a US long weekend. The euro zone economy rose 0.1% in the December quarter with the German economy flat. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell by 0.1%. The German Dax was flat and the UK FTSE lost 0.6%. In London trade, shares of Rio Tinto fell by 0.5% and BHP lost 1.1%.

The Euro and commodity currencies were weaker against the US dollar in European and US trade. The Euro fell from around US$1.0860 to near US$1.0827 and was around US$1.0830 in late US trade. The Aussie dollar fell from near US67.30 cents to US67.05 cents and was near US67.13 cents in late US trade. But the Japanese yen lifted from 109.86 yen per US dollar to JPY109.69 and was near JPY109.74 in late US trade.

Hello World!

Global oil prices rose by up to 1.7% on Friday. Investors expressed hopes that the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak would be short-lived and largely contained to China. The number of oil rigs in operation in the US rose by two to 678 - the second week of gains. Brent crude rose by US98 cents or 1.7% to US$57.32 a barrel. The US Nymex price rose by US63 cents or 1.2% to US$52.05 a barrel. Over the week Brent rose by 5.2% and Nymex rose 3.4% - the first gains in six weeks.

Base metal prices fell by between 0.4-2.1% on Friday with copper. lead and tin down the least and nickel and aluminium down the most. Over the week, aluminium and zinc fell by up to 0.3%. But lead rose 4.1% and copper, nickel and tin rose 1.9-2.1%.

The gold futures price rose by US$7.60 an ounce or 0.5% to US$1,582.70 an ounce. Spot gold was trading near US$1,584 an ounce in late US trade. Over the week gold rose by US$14.10 or 0.9%. Iron ore rose by US15 cents or 0.2% to US$88.35 a tonne. Over the week iron ore rose by US$5.70 or 6.9%.

G’day Australia

In Australia, no major data is expected. In China the house price index is released and lending figures may be released in the late afternoon. In the US, Presidents Day is observed.