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Economic data to provide fresh impetus in the week leading up to Easter

After last week's focus on the monetary policy decisions of the major central banks and the landmark decisions taken by the SNB and the Bank of Japan, investors are now likely to turn their attention to the further development of the global economy. In this shortened pre-Easter trading week, economic data will also be in focus, including US consumer confidence on Tuesday, the Eurozone sentiment survey on Wednesday and the Swiss KOF economic barometer on Thursday. 

Data
Autore
Alessandro Fezzi, LGT Research Content & Publications
Tempo di lettura
5 minuto

Man standing on euro note
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Asia-Pacific stock markets had a mixed start to the week today. The focus was on the latest inflation data from the region. Both Singapore and Malaysia reported higher than expected inflation rates on Monday. Singapore's core inflation reached 3.6%, the highest since July 2023, while Malaysia's inflation rate of 1.8% in February was much higher than the expected 1.4%. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 closed down almost 1.2%, below Friday's all-time high. South Korea's Kospi was down 0.4%, but not far from its recent two-year high. In contrast, the small cap Kosdaq was up 1.1%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell 0.1%, while the mainland Chinese CSI 300 Index hovered near zero. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 started the week 0.5% higher, recovering from Friday's losses to near a record high.

On the New York Stock Exchange, stock indexes went into the weekend with losses on Friday after hitting record highs last week. The Dow Jones Industrial lost over 300 points on Friday to close 0.8% lower at 39,476.90, but was still up around 2% for the week. The S&P 500 ended the weekend at 5,234.18 (-0.14%) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq indices fell a moderate 0.1%. On a weekly basis, however, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices posted solid gains of 2.3% and 2.9% respectively.

Among individual stocks, Nike was in the spotlight. After the US sporting goods company issued a weak sales outlook for the third quarter, its shares fell by around 7%. On the earnings side, shares of the logistics group Fedex were in focus. On the back of a significant rise in quarterly operating profit, the share price rose by more than 7% on Friday.

In the bond market, the yield on ten-year US government bonds fell to 4.21%, while in the currency market, the US dollar pushed the euro to its lowest level since early March.

In Europe, the latest survey results from the Munich-based economic research institute Ifo set a positive tone. The closely watched Ifo business climate barometer rose for the second month in a row - by 2.1 points to 87.8 in March, the best reading since the middle of last year. One could speak of a silver lining on the horizon, the Ifo commented. Economists had only expected a very moderate rise. Ifo surveys around 9,000 German companies every month on their assessment of the current economic situation and medium-term expectations.

Focus on corporate news: There is no major corporate news today.

Focus on economic data: From the US, the Chicago Fed's national activity index and new home sales. 
 

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Publisher: LGT Bank (Switzerland) Ltd., Glärnischstrasse 36, CH-8027 Zurich
Editor: Alessandro Fezzi
Source: LGT Bank (Switzerland) Lten steht Ihnen ein Berater der Bank gerne zur Verfügung.

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Herausgeber: LGT Bank (Schweiz) AG, Glärnischstrasse 36, CH-8027 Zürich
Redaktion: Alessandro Fezzi
Quelle: LGT Bank (Schweiz) AG

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