Highlights
US stocks edged higher after a 4-week losing streak as indicated by the major US indices paring their losses to close in positive territory as at close of Friday with the S&P 500 gaining 0.51% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite eked out a 0.25% gain. The Federal Reserve, in its just concluded policy meeting held its policy rate steady at 4.25%-4.5% while also maintaining the forecast at 50 basis points of rate cuts this year. The Chair noted that the base case was that the inflationary effects of rate cuts would be transitory and that longer-term inflationary pressures were well anchored within the Fed’s 2% inflation target – dovish sentiments that spurred the markets higher. Meanwhile, the pan-European STOXX 600 ended the week 0.31% higher while tensions about U.S. tariffs scheduled for early April clouded sentiment somewhat. Uncertainties in growth and inflation outlooks made key central banks in the Eurozone adopt a wait-and-see approach to their policy actions. Mainland Chinese stocks markets snapped their two-week positive run despite a batch of better-than-expected indicators showing that the economy started the year on solid footing. Several analysts have upgraded their GDP forecasts for China following the positive releases, reflecting confidence that Beijing can meet its annual growth goals despite the risk of an escalating U.S. trade war.
Data Highlights:
The retail sales was up 3.1% YoY from February 2024 according to the US Commerce department. In Canada, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.6% YoY in February. The Federal reserve kept its key borrowing rate steady, in the range of 4.25% – 4.5%, matching analysts’ expectations. The eurozone CPI fell to 2.3% YoY in Feb 2025, compared to 2.5% in January. This figure came in lower than the expected 2.4% figure by analysts. In the U.K the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.4% which matched market expectations. The Bank of England also kept rates steady at 4.5% which has been the lowest level since June 2023. The Bank of Japan kept interest rates steady at 0.5% which marked analyst expectations. Japan inflation rate fell to 3.7% YoY compared to 4% for the previous month. Analyst expected a higher inflation at 4.2%.
Week Ahead:
U.K GDP Growth Rate YoY, U.K Core Inflation rate – Wednesday | U.S GDP Growth Rate Q4 – Thursday | U.K GDP Growth Rate Q4, U.K Retail Sales– Friday
