Markets
Asian market fretted over US-China tariff tensions. The additional 10% tariff due to implement on March 4th brought $HSI down 3.3%, reversing some of the 26% gain made since early January. European markets were neutral. US equities rebounded and yields fell. Most notably #US2Y fell 8bps. $BTC briefly touched $78k. All sectors in the $SPX rose, with financials leading with a 1.7% gain.
Headlines
• Zelenskyy won’t apologize to Trump, but calls clash ‘not good for both sides’
• Norway plans to raise financial support for Ukraine, prime minister says
Sources say Ukraine’s critical mineral reserves does not make top 10, and that most mineable reserves are located in territory occupied by Russian forces.
• Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq rally to cap volatile week, losing month
$SPX rose 1.59%. $IXIC 1.63%
• Treasury chief urges Canada, Mexico to match US tariffs on China as deadline looms
Bessent: “I think it would be a nice gesture if the Canadians did it also – so in a way, we could have fortress North America from the flood of Chinese imports that’s coming out of the most unbalanced economy in the history of modern times,”
• The first quarter is on track for negative GDP growth, Atlanta Fed indicator says
-1.5% for 1Q25
• Intel delays Ohio chip plant opening to next decade, was supposed to start production by 2026
2026→2030
• Vietnam PM pledges quick licensing for Musk’s Starlink, more import
Pham Minh Chinh said Vietnam is taking measures to rebalance the trade surplus with the US.
• US regulators, in unusual move, raise concerns about new private credit ETF
SPDR SSGA Apollo IG Public & Private Credit ETF launched Friday. SEC raised concerns about the ETF’s liquidity, the guideline being a cap of 15% for illiquid assets. Also, requested removing of the Apollo name.
• Super Micro stock sees nearly 30% weekly loss as AI server competition mounts
Super Micro makes $NVDA Blackwell server racks.
• New investors pumped up bitcoin ETFs. Now some are exiting.
$BTC briefly sank below $80k.
• Tesla just wrapped up its second-worst month ever
Lost 28% in February. Only 10k $TSLA cars were registered in Europe in January.
• German inflation stays unchanged at hotter-than-expected 2.8% in February
• Pope Francis, after setback, had a peaceful night, Vatican says
He is 88 years old.
• Why is BofA bullish on strength of US economy
“We don’t expect evidence of AI adoption to show up in macro data anytime soon. So, for now, it represents an upside risk to our outlook for productivity and growth,” Instead the bank highlighted increased business formation, reduced regulation, and capital deepening
• Microsoft dominates cybersecurity space as rivals struggle to keep up: Bernstein
