Morning Wrap (11.03.2024)

Asia-Pacific indices are recording a mixed session at the start of the week. Japan's Nikkei loses as much as 2.20%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 is trading 1.10% lower and indices from China gain between 1.40-1.60%.

European index futures point to a lower opening of the cash session on the Old Continent.

In the forex market, we do not see much change in the first part of the day, with most forex rates fluctuating between +-0.20%. The weakest currency in the first part of the day is the Australian dollar AUD. In contrast, the New Zealand dollar is the strongest one.

Japan's economy grew at an annualized rate of 0.4% in the October-December quarter from the previous quarter, better than the preliminary estimate of a 0.4% decline, government data showed on Monday.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, GDP grew by 0.1%, compared to an initial decline of 0.1% and the median forecast of 0.3% growth.

The US armed forces said that at least 28 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were shot down over the Red Sea early Saturday.

Along with coalition forces from France and the UK, the US said it had taken action after determining that "large-scale" Houthi attacks "posed a direct threat to commercial vessels".

Ni Hong, Minister of Housing and Urban and Rural Development, said at a press conference on Saturday that companies that are insolvent or unable to operate must cease operations or be restructured.

Ni Hong says authorities have a difficult task this year to stabilise the stricken property industry.

The head of the Japan Business Federation, Masakazu Tokura, believes that more momentum is being felt for wage increases at this year's talks compared to last year. Therefore, there is a high probability that the BOJ will normalise monetary policy in the near future. However, it is uncertain whether this will happen as early as March.

The cryptocurrency market is seeing a pullback. Bitcoin is losing 0.65% to US$68500, Ethereum 1.40% to US$3800 and the altcoin market is losing even more at 1.20%.

Cryptocurrencies gained over the weekend, with Bitcoin approaching the USD 70000 level again, but there was a slight correction in the first part of the day of the new week.