Market Mayhem
Equities markets are under pressure, with markets very alarmed about the possibility of a default by Swiss Bank Credit Suisse. Looking at equity markets, we see all major USD indexes trading well down, and therefore it is safe to say EM’s will not perform well either. The rand has lost 1.4% and testing the R18.40 level at the moment. This is far from the worst-performing currency for the day, with the euro taking severe punishment and losing 1.6% as the possibility of a contagion effect by Credit Suisse on the Eurozone is being digested. On the back of this, the roller-coaster ride on Treasury Yields continues, and we see the 2yr Yield on 3.82% after opening well north of the 4% mark. On the other hand, Gold has been riding out the storm and is up 1% for the day. The remaining commodity sectors are firmly under pressure, with Brent Crude losing another 4%, Palladium giving back yesterday’s gains, and Copper back below $8,600.
US Data
Earlier this afternoon, we learned that both PPI and Retail Sales missed their marks. PPI printed -0.1% month-on-month for February, while Retail Sales came out -0.4% negative during the same period. This places more emphasis on the downward trend of inflation in the US, and we could see that the FOMC will focus more on financial market stability in the next meeting and possibly even pause rate hikes for the time being.
#Marekts #Equity #CreditSuisse
