Global Market Trends (18th Mar., 2022)

U.S. Market, the U.S. dollar remains the safest asset for many reserve asset holders, says Morgan Stanley, as the stocks gained momentum late in the trading session yesterday to close with gains one day after the Federal Reserve announced its first interest rate hike since 2018 and as crude prices rebounded. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose over 400 points or 1.2% while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite gained 1.2% and 1.3%, respectively. 

Commodities, U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude closed higher at $102.98 per barrel, while Brent, the global benchmark, hit $106.64. 

Gas prices fell a few cents to $4.28 per AAA. 

Energy stocks maintained the lead helped by Occidental. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway bumped up its stake to just under 15%. Utilities, defensive plays, were the weakest performers. 

Tech, Intel announced it will invest $100 million in Ohio to advance semiconductor learning; half will come from the company while the other $50 million will come via a partnership with the U.S. National Science Foundation. Details of the education funding follow the company's January announcement that it's investing $20 billion in semiconductor production in Ohio, an attempt to help alleviate a global shortage of chips powering everything from phones to cars to home appliances. It's the largest private sector investment in Ohio history.

Labour, the Labor Department reported 214,000 weekly jobless claims were filed, little changed from 227,000 the previous week. Continuing claims, which track the total number of unemployed workers collecting benefits, are edged down to 1.419 million, holding well below pre-pandemic levels.

Housing Data, came in very strong. Homes under construction in February rose 6.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.76 million – that’s up from 1.638 million in January. Permits for future construction slipped by 1.9% to 1.859 million in February.

In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin held above the $40,000 level. 



SPOT MARKET  BY THE HOUR AS OF GMT 09;37  03-17-22