#LIBOR #FebJobReport #ChinaGrowth  Topic #1: LIBOR crosses 5% for the first time since 2007 The 3-month LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) cracked 5% for the first time in 15 years on Monday, on account of the rise in expectations of Fed policy tightening. The LIBOR is a globally accepted benchmark rate...

Topic #1: Higher rates haven’t been bad for everyone  The US dollar has been on the rise in the past week. In fact, the US Dollar Index (DXY) tracks the performance of the US dollar against a basket of top foreign currencies and has risen by 4% from its low...

Topic #1: Has faith in China’s recovery dwindled? The Hang Seng Index is now down 10.06% since its high in January. Some believe the market decline is due to growing geopolitical concerns and doubts over the strength of China's economy. Investors are also seeking more evidence that the economy's recovery...

Topic #1: Sticky Inflation in the US & UK Latest US inflation data out on Tuesday has disappointed investors, as prices continued to rise in January by 6.4% annually. This marked the seventh consecutive month of price increases, with only a slight cooling from December's 6.5% pace. The "core" measure...

Topic #1: Cautious Optimism Current fear-greed index in the past week is at a high since the start of 2023. Yet, inflation is not as simple as it appears and thinking that it will swiftly return to normal levels is a perilous misconception. Despite starting to decrease from its all-time...

Topic #1: Fed’s Interest Rate Hike Battle In this week's market update, the Federal Reserve (the Fed) increased the benchmark interest rates by 0.25 percentage points, bringing it to 4.5%-4.75%. This move was widely expected and is part of the Fed's commitment to maintaining transparency and stability in the markets....

Topic #1: China’s Lunar New Year Rebound Data out on Wednesday showed that Chinese families celebrated the Lunar New Year in high style. What does this mean? While the lifting of Covid restrictions alone will not immediately revive China's economy, recent indicators suggest that the country is beginning to recover. For example,...

In the past week, pessimism (i.e. bearishness) among individual investors about the short-term direction of the stock market slipped last week to its lowest level in 10 weeks. Neutral sentiment also pulled back, while optimism (bullishness) has rebounded. So, with positive investors sentiments picking up, here are this week’s...

Topic #1: US Inflation in line with expectations What happened The latest data indicates that inflation in the United States decelerated in December, as the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded a 6.5% increase compared to the previous year. Notably, this marks the sixth consecutive month of decline in inflation. Furthermore, the...

Source: 5-day price movement for 3 major markets, Kitco Stocks start 2023 on a positive note as hopes grow of slowing inflation Stocks had a difficult year in 2022, with all three major averages experiencing their worst performance since 2008 and ending a three-year streak of gains. The Dow was the...