Summary for the 18th of March 2019


The stock exchange in the US ended in positive on Friday due to raising optimism of trade agreement between the US and China. China had passed a new foreign investment law on Friday which would give more rights to foreign companies operating in China.

Markit Composite PMI(flash estimates) for the Eurozone will be released this week. PMI for the Eurozone has been declining through 2018, from a peak of 58.8 in January 2018 to 51 in January 2019. Value under 50 means a contraction in business conditions. PMI for February was at 51.9. For the investors to regain the optimism in the Eurozone and for them to believe that the downturn in 2018 was due to temporarily factors, the PMI value needs to keep raising. China has been implementing economic measures to keep the activity growth, while the US economy is still strong. Europe is the missing piece to convince the financial market to have a positive outlook in the global economy.

Fed Interest Rate Decision will also be held this week. The Federal Reserve has signaled that it would be patient with rate hikes and to take a break from raising short term interest rates. Signals from the Federal Reserve, even small ones, are known to give large movements in the financial markets.

Indices for 18th of March. Stock markets closed in positive on Friday due to progression in the trade talk:

Dow: +0.5% (15th of March)
S&P 500: +0.5% (15th of March)
Nasdaq: +0.8% (15th of March)
Nikkei: +0.8%  (18th of March)
Chinese indices: +1.8% (18th of March)
STOXX Europe 600 Index: +0.27% (18th of March)

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