Morning wrap (17.03.2025)

Wall Street broke its streak of sharp declines on Friday, with major indexes closing in the green amid news that Democrats would not block the public spending bill in the Senate. The Nasdaq gained 2.61%, the S&P 500 added 2.13%, the DJIA rose by 1.65%, and the Russell 2000 closed the session with a 2.53% increase.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent considered the current correction on Wall Street to be healthy, stating that a comparable euphoria in the stock market would lead to a financial crisis. In the context of a potential recession in the U.S., Bessent added that “there is no guarantee that it won’t happen.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested potential bilateral talks with trade partners after the imposition of key tariffs on the U.S.

Donald Trump announced that he would have a conversation with Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, adding that “a lot has been done over the weekend.”

Indexes in Asia are gaining at the start of the week in response to better consumption data from China. The HSCEI rose by 1%, the Shanghai SE Composite by 0.3%, the Japanese Nikkei 225 by 1.2%, and the South Korean Kospi by 1.56%.

Retail sales in China increased by 4% in February (forecast: 3.8%), while industrial production grew by 5.9% (forecast: 5.3%). The positive impact of the data is balanced by a further decline in new property prices (-0.14% MoM, previously: -0.07%) and a higher-than-expected unemployment rate (5.4%, forecast: 5.1%, previously: 5.2%).

A press conference by Chinese government representatives is scheduled for today, where new measures to stimulate domestic demand will be announced.

Volatility in the forex market remains moderate. EURUSD is flat (1.088), the Japanese yen continues its correction (USDJPY: -0.23%), and the currencies of the Antipodes make small gains against the dollar (AUDNZD: +0.03%, NZDUSD: +0.13%). The dollar index is slightly in the green (USDIDX: +0.05%).

Gold gains 0.15% to $2,988 per ounce, and silver is also in the green (+0.1% to $33.83 per ounce).

Brent and WTI crude oil contracts rise by 0.6%, while NATGAS futures remain unchanged.

The cryptocurrency market is generally optimistic. Bitcoin and Ethereum contracts gain 1.1% and 0.7%, respectively. There are also gains for Polygon (+3.05%), Chainlink (+2.45%), Ripple (+1.5%), and Solana (+1.3%).

The key macroeconomic data for today include retail sales in the U.S.