Daily Market Brief

February 22nd 2023

FOREIGN EXCHANGE MARKETS

(Sources: Bloomberg / Forexlive)

EURUSD

EUR/USD extends pullback from intraday high to 1.0650 during the first positive day in three amid the early Wednesday. That said, The Euro pair's initial gains could be linked to the US Dollar's retreat amid a cautious mood ahead of the (FOMC) Minutes. Also adding strength to the EUR/USD run-up were the sluggish US Treasury bond yields after they refreshed a three-month high. Furthermore, concerns that the (ECB) will increase the benchmark rates to an all-time high also strengthened the pair's rebound.

GBPUSD

GBP/USD grinds higher past 1.2100, during the initial hours of Wednesday's Asian trading, as upbeat UK fundamentals keep Cable buyers hopeful ahead of the key (FOMC) Minutes. That said, strong UK data and hopes of overcoming multi-day-old nurse strikes in Britain seemed to have underpinned the pair's latest run-up.

USDJPY

USD/JPY bulls take a breather after a three-day winning streak, making rounds to

135.00 as Tokyo opens on Wednesday. In doing so, the Yen pair tracks the grinding of the US Treasury bond yields around multi-day top ahead of the key (FOMC) Monetary Policy Minutes. It should be noted that the recently softer Japan data and upbeat US statistics underpin the hawkish Fed bets to keep buyers hopeful.

INTERNATIONAL EQUITY MARKETS

(Sources: Bloomberg / Reuters)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Wall Street posted its worst performance of the year on Tuesday, with the main benchmarks ending down as investors interpreted a rebound in U.S. business activity in February to mean interest rates will need to stay higher for longer to control inflation.

EUROPE

European shares slipped on Tuesday after strong economic data fuelled expectations of higher interest rates, while London-listed HSBC (HSBA.L) rallied on a quarterly profit surge. Euro zone PMI at 9-month high as services supports.

ASIA

Hong Kong shares closed lower on Tuesday, weighed down by geopolitical worries ahead of the Ukraine war's one-year anniversary and doubts around China's economic recovery.

MUST READ

(Source: Bloomberg/ Forexlive)

A hedge fund manager says stock-market pain is only beginning

Veteran trader Neal Berger is betting that global assets are going to feel more pain, after scoring a massive gain last year when stocks had their worst performance since 2008. According to a Bloomberg report, he ran Eagle's View Capital Management as a fund of funds for 16 years before launching the Contrarian Macro Fund, which in April 2021 piled up bets on an increasingly hawkish Federal Reserve. The new fund delivered a return of about 163% in 2022. "The reason why I started the fund was that central bank flows were going to change 180 degrees. That key difference would be a headwind on all asset prices," he told Bloomberg. "One had to believe that the prices we saw were, to use the academic term, wackadoodle." Per the report, Eagle's View has about $700 million in assets under management, and roughly $200 million in the Contrarian Macro Fund. The turbulence of the previous year brought losses for many money managers, but Berger found the opposite. He told Bloomberg he's shorting stocks and bonds with futures contracts, targeting assets he believes have been skewed by easy money policies. In particular, his Contrarian Macro Fund is mostly betting against Europen and American assets, though it also has hedges that will pay returns in upswings. "The $19 trillion of sovereign debt trading at negative yields, the SPAC boom, the crypto boom, private equity valuations and public equity valuations - they're all stripes of the same zebra," he explained. "The zebra being the ocean of liquidity, first in response to the Great Financial Crisis and then to Covid.

Fx rates

Last

High

Low

% Daily

% Weekly

% YTD

EUR-USD

1.0656

1.0664

1.0646

0.08

-0.31

-0.46

GBP-USD

1.2104

1.2136

1.2098

-0.07

0.62

0.17

USD-JPY

134.84

135.06

134.55

-0.13

-0.50

-2.76

USD-CHF

0.9263

0.9279

0.9262

-0.16

-0.27

-0.19

Commodities

Last

High

Low

% Daily

% Weekly

% YTD

Silver

21.82

21.90

21.80

-0.06

0.90

-8.91

Crude Oil

75.88

76.55

75.84

-0.63

-4.24

-5.77

Bitcoin

24016.39

24476.16

23879.28

-0.76

-1.92

45.21

Etherium

1636.10

1667.05

1623.10

-0.38

-3.41

36.41

Period

1 M

3 M

12 M

EURIBOR

2.38

2.65

3.58

* USD LIBOR rates will be discontinued after June 30, 2023 and will be replaced by SOFR

Notes/Bonds

2 Y

10 Y

30 Y

US

4.67

3.94

3.96

BTP - BUND

0.54

1.94

2.05

GILTS

3.92

3.61

4.01

Index

Close

% Daily

% M

YTD

Futures

% Change

S&P

3997.34

-2.00

0.62

4.11

4011.25

0.14

Nasdaq

11492.30

-2.50

3.16

9.80

12115.25

0.16

DJ EuroStoxx50

4250.40

-0.49

3.17

12.04

4245.00

-0.21

FTSE 100

7977.75

-0.46

2.67

7.06

7922.50

-0.28

CAC 40

7308.65

-0.37

4.47

12.90

7342.90

N/A

DAX

15397.62

-0.52

2.42

10.59

15395.00

-0.14

IBEX 35

9252.10

-0.31

3.74

12.43

9354.30

N/A

FTSE MIB

27409.34

-0.68

6.34

15.62

27468.00

N/A

Nikkei

27104.32

-1.34

2.07

3.87

27080.00

-1.35

Hang Seng

20529.49

-0.28

-7.13

3.50

20474.00

-0.36

DFM General

3458.00

0.11

3.26

3.77

N/A

N/A

MSCI Tadawoul

10269.73

-0.98

-4.24

-1.99

N/A

N/A

PRIOR_CLOSE_MID

CHG_PC CHG_PC CHG_PCT_

Leb. Mrkts

Closing Px

High

Low

% Daily

% Weekly

YTD

Solidere B

66.20

66.20

66.20

1.77

2.40

9.69

MAIN WEEKLY EARNINGS

(Source: Nasdaq)

Company

Ticker

Market Cap

Date

Time

Estimate

Year Ago

NVIDIA Corporatio

NVDA UA

$541.2 B

22-Feb-23

After-mkt

0.48

1.14

BABA US

Alibaba Group

$272.9 B

23-Feb-23

Pre-mkt

1.89

2.20

Intuit Inc.

INTU US

$114.7 B

23-Feb-23

After-mkt

0.29

0.67

Moderna, Inc

MRNA US

$66.2 B

23-Feb-23

Pre-mkt

4.66

11.29

NetEase, Inc

NTES US

$57.6 B

23-Feb-23

Pre-mkt

1.12

1.34

ECONOMIC CALENDER

(Source: Forexlive)

(22-02-23) DE- Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices YoY JAN; 10-y Bond Auction

(22-02-23) DE- IFO - Current Assessment, Expectations, Business Climate FEB

(22-02-23) CH- ZEW Survey - Expectations FEB

(22-02-23) US- FOMC Minutes report

(23-02-23) GB- BoE's Mann speech

(23-02-23) EA- Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices JAN

(23-02-23) US- Gross Domestic Product Annualized Q4 preliminar

CONTACT

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Asset Management Unit

Ashrafieh, Elias Sarkis Ave., BEMO Bldg, 4th Floor P.O.Box 16-6353 Beirut, Lebanon

Tel: +961 1 325405/6/7/9

Disclaimer: This report is published for information purposes only. The information herein has been compiled from, or based upon sources we believe to be reliable, but we do not guarantee or accept responsibility for its completeness and accuracy. This document should not be construed as a solicitation to take part in any investment, or as constituting any representation or warranty on our part. The investment risks described herein are not purported to be exhaustive, any person considering an investment should seek independent advice on the suitability or otherwise of the particular investment. Investment, Capital Market and Treasury products are subject to Investment risk, including possible loss of principal amount invested. Past performance is not indicative of future results: prices can go up or down. Investors investing in investments and/or treasury products denominated in foreign (non-local) currency should be aware of the risk of exchange rate fluctuations that may cause loss of principal when foreign currency is converted to the investor's home currency. Client understands that it is his/her responsibility to seek legal and/or tax advice regarding the legal and tax consequences of his/her investment transactions. The consequences of any action taken on the basis of finformation contained herein are solely the responsibility of the recipient.

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Banque Bemo SAL published this content on 22 February 2023 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 22 February 2023 08:26:10 UTC.