How’dy USA

In US economic data, the Markit 'flash' purchasing managers index for manufacturing fell from 51.9 to 50.8 in February. The services index fell from 53.4 to 49.4 - the lowest reading in over six years. Existing home sales fell by 1.3% in January to a 5.46 million annual rate (forecast 5.43m). The stock of homes was 10.7% lower than a year ago with prices up 6.8%.

US share markets fell on Friday - the fifth consecutive week that share indexes had settled lower on a Friday. Coronavirus concerns and softer US economic data weighed on indexes. The S&P technology index fell by 2.3%. At the close of trade, the Dow Jones index was lower by almost 228 points or 0.8%. The S&P500 index lost 1.1% and the Nasdaq lost 174 points or 1.8%. Over the week the Dow fell by 1.4%, S&P 500 lost 1.3% and the Nasdaq eased by 1.6%.

US treasuries rose on Friday (yields lower) as traders embraced 'safe haven' assets like bonds, gold and the Japanese yen. US purchasing manager gauges were weaker in the latest month. US 2- year yields fell by 4 points to 1.35% and US 10-year yields fell by 5 points to near 1.47%. Over the week US 2-year yields fell by 7 points with US 10-year yields down by 12 points.

Bonjour Europe

European share markets eased on Friday as traders squared positions ahead of the weekend - as they have done for the past month - cautious of any coronavirus news. The oil sector fell 1.5% in response to a lower oil price. Auto stocks fell 1.9%. The pan European STOXX 600 index fell by 0.5% to end 0.6% lower on the week. The German Dax lost 0.6% and the UK FTSE fell by 0.4%. In London trade, shares of Rio Tinto fell by 0.2% and BHP lost 0.9%.

Hello World!

Major currencies were firmer against the US dollar in European and US trade. The Euro rose from around US$1.0785 to near US$1.0860 and was around US$1.0845 in late US trade. The Aussie dollar rose from near US65.85 cents to US66.40 cents and was near US66.25 cents in late US trade. This morning the Aussie is near US66.05 cents. And the Japanese yen lifted from 112.00 yen per US dollar to JPY111.50 and was near JPY111.57 in late US trade.

Global oil prices fell by up to 1.4% on Friday. Investors continue to worry that the coronavirus may have a more lasting impact on oil demand. The OPEC+ nations moved no closer to an agreement to trim more crude output. Supporting prices was a Reuters news story: "Yemen’s Houthis said on Friday they had struck facilities of Saudi oil giant Aramco in the Red Sea port of Yanbu with twelve drones and three rockets." Brent crude fell by US81 cents or 1.4% to US$58.50 a barrel. The US Nymex price fell by US50 cents or 0.9% to US$53.38 a barrel. Over the week Brent rose by 2.1% and Nymex rose by 2.6% - the second straight week of gains.

Base metal prices were mixed on Friday. Lead, nickel and zinc fell up to 3.2% with lead down the most. Other metals rose up to 0.7%. Over the week, metals fell, with nickel down 3.8% and zinc down 1.8% but tin rose 0.7%.

The gold futures price rose by US$28.00 an ounce or 1.7% to US$1,644.60 an ounce. Spot gold was trading near US$1,643 an ounce in late US trade. Over the week gold rose by US$61.90 or 3.9%. Iron ore rose by US70 cents or 0.8% to US$91.80 a tonne. Over the week iron ore rose by US$9.15 or 11.1%.

G’day Australia

In Australia, no major data is expected. In the US the Chicago Federal Reserve national activity index is released.