14 March 2025
US stocks fell on Thursday, as trade policy uncertainty and economic growth worries continued to weigh on sentiment. The S&P 500 ended 1.4% lower, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 2.0%.
US Treasuries rose (yields fell) as risk sentiment deteriorated, despite a soft 30-year Treasury bond auction result. 10-year yields were down 4bp to 4.27%.
European stock markets mostly fell on Thursday amid rising worries over trade frictions. The Euro Stoxx 50 closed 0.6% lower. The German DAX fell 0.5%, while the French CAC lost 0.6%. In the UK, the FTSE-100 ended flat.
European government bonds were mixed, with the monetary policy outlook in focus. 10-year German bund yields fell 3bp to 2.85%, as 10-year French bond yields edged up 1bp to 3.56%. In the UK, 10-year gilt yields were 4bp lower at 4.68%.
Asian stock markets traded mostly lower on Thursday amid persistent growth and trade-policy concerns. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s Shanghai Composite retreated 0.6% and 0.4% respectively, as Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended little changed. India’s Sensex edged 0.3% lower despite softer-than-expected CPI inflation data offering some comfort to investors.
Crude oil prices fell on Thursday as the International Energy Agency (IEA) projected a supply surplus this year. WTI for April delivery settled 1.7% lower at USD66.6 a barrel.
US PPI surprised to the downside holding flat on a mom basis in February, after rising 0.6% mom previously. This was due to lower food and energy prices and cooler core inflation.
In the Eurozone, industrial production expanded at its fastest pace since August by 0.8% mom in January, after contracting 0.4% at the end of 2024. Revisions did however show that December’s decline was smaller than initially thought.
In the US, the University of Michigan Sentiment index is expected to decrease to 63.0 in March, from 64.7 in February. The index has been rising since 2022, but recent growth worries and trade uncertainty may lead to weaker prints ahead.
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