(raw materials / closing price /% change)

Oil 60.33 -1.34%

Gold 1,322.50 -0.38%

(index / closing price / change items /% change)

Nikkei +115.35 21368.07 +0.54%

TOPIX +5.99 1709.95 +0.35%

Hang Seng +457.60 30654.52 +1.52%

CSI 300 +40.95 4077.60 +1.01%

Euro Stoxx 50 +35.92 3413.28 +1.06%

FTSE 100 +45.40т7203.24 +0.63%

DAX +110.21 12355.57 +0.90%

CAC 40 +66.27 5254.10 +1.28%

DJIA +93.85 24895.21 +0.38%

S&P 500 +12.17 2738.97 +0.45%

NASDAQ +31.30 7427.95 +0.42%

S&P/TSX +66.09 15538.70 +0.43%

(pare/closed(GMT +2)/change, %)

EUR/USD $1,2311 -0,81%

GBP/USD $1,3812 -0,67%

USD/CHF Chf0,95104 +0,81%

USD/JPY Y106,19 +0,13%

EUR/JPY Y130,74 -0,68%

GBP/JPY Y146,679 -0,54%

AUD/USD $0,7785 -0,50%

NZD/USD $0,7257 -0,40%

USD/CAD C$1,2897 -0,11%

00:00 Japan Labor Cash Earnings, YoY January 0.7% 0.7%

01:30 China PPI y/y February 4.3% 3.8%

01:30 China CPI y/y February 1.5% 2.5%

03:00 Japan BoJ Interest Rate Decision -0.1% -0.1%

03:00 Japan BoJ Monetary Policy Statement

06:30 Japan BOJ Press Conference

07:00 Germany Current Account January 27.8

07:00 Germany Trade Balance (non s.a.), bln January 18.2

07:00 Germany Industrial Production s.a. (MoM) January -0.6% 0.5%

07:45 France Industrial Production, m/m January 0.5% -0.2%

09:30 United Kingdom Industrial Production (MoM) January -1.3% 1.1%

09:30 United Kingdom Industrial Production (YoY) January 0% 1.9%

09:30 United Kingdom Manufacturing Production (MoM) January 0.3% 0.2%

09:30 United Kingdom Manufacturing Production (YoY) January 1.4% 2.8%

09:30 United Kingdom Consumer Inflation Expectations Quarter I 2.9%

09:30 United Kingdom Total Trade Balance January -4.896

13:00 United Kingdom NIESR GDP Estimate February 0.5% 0.3%

13:30 Canada Capacity Utilization Rate Quarter IV 85.0% 85.7%

13:30 Canada Unemployment rate February 5.9% 5.9%

13:30 Canada Employment February -88 20

13:30 U.S. Manufacturing Payrolls February 15 15

13:30 U.S. Government Payrolls February 4

13:30 U.S. Average workweek February 34.3 34.4

13:30 U.S. Private Nonfarm Payrolls February 196 191

13:30 U.S. Average hourly earnings February 0.3% 0.2%

13:30 U.S. Labor Force Participation Rate February 62.7% 62.5%

13:30 U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls February 200 200

13:30 U.S. Unemployment Rate February 4.1% 4%

15:00 U.S. Wholesale Inventories January 0.6% 0.7%

17:40 U.S. FOMC Member Rosengren Speaks

17:45 U.S. FOMC Member Charles Evans Speaks

18:00 U.S. Baker Hughes Oil Rig Count March 800

The major stock indexes of the US ended the session above zero in anticipation of President Donald Trump's announcement of an increase in metal tariffs and amid fears that this move could trigger a global trade war.

According to the latest information, President Trump signed a decree on the introduction of tariffs for the import of metals. This decree sets a tariff of 25% for steel imports, 10% for aluminum imports, while Mexico and Canada do not fall under tariffs

The focus of attention of market participants was also data on the US labor market. The Ministry of Labor stated that the number of Americans applying for new unemployment benefits rose last week, retreating from the lowest level since 1969. Initial claims for unemployment benefits increased by 21,000 to 231,000, seasonally adjusted for the week to March 3. Economists were expecting 220,000 new applications. The four-week moving average, a more stable measure, increased by 2,000 to 222,500 people. But the number of repeated applications fell to 1,870,000 for the week to February 24.

The cost of oil declined markedly, and was on the way to a second consecutive weekly drop, due to the sharp strengthening of the dollar, as well as increased production and oil reserves in the US. The increase in crude oil reserves in the US, which was reported by the US Energy Ministry on the eve, was not as large as expected, given that reserves tend to grow by the end of winter, as refineries are carrying out maintenance. The US Energy Ministry reported that in the week of February 24 - March 2, oil reserves increased by 2.408 million barrels, to 425,906 million barrels. Expected to increase by 2.723 million barrels.

Most components of the DOW index recorded a rise (22 out of 30). The leader of growth was the shares of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ, + 1.80%). Outsider were the shares of International Business Machines Corporation (IBM, -1.50%).

Almost all sectors of S & P completed the auction in positive territory. The consumer goods sector grew most (+ 0.7%). The largest decline was in the commodity sector (-0.4%).

At closing:

Dow + 0.38% 24.895.21 +93.85

Nasdaq + 0.42% 7.427.95 +31.30

S & P + 0.45% 2.738.97 +12.17

U.S. stock-index futures rose on Thursday, as investors were encouraged by signs that President Donald Trump's planned steep import tariffs on steel and aluminum could exclude some key trading partners.

Global Stocks:

Nikkei 21,368.07 +115.35 +0.54%

Hang Seng 30,654.52 +457.60 +1.52%

Shanghai 3,289.29 +17.63 +0.54%

S&P/ASX 5,942.90 +40.90 +0.69%

FTSE 7,162.42 +4.58 +0.06%

CAC 5,219.33 +31.50 +0.61%

DAX 12,224.20 -21.16 -0.17%

Crude $61.23 (+0.13%)

Gold $1,325.80 (-0.14%)

(company / ticker / price / change ($/%) / volume)

UnitedHealth (UNH) initiated with a Overweight at Barclays; target $265

Tesla (TSLA) target lowered to $347 from $367 at Citigroup

Exxon Mobil (XOM) target lowered to $81 from $84 at Citigroup; Neutral

• Decision unanimous

• There was reference surrounding output growth path

• Asking for clarification on Latvia

• Victory can't be declared yet

• Policy will continue to be reactive

• 2019 inflation at 1.4 pct vs 1.5 pct seen in dec

• 2018 gdp growth at 2.4 pct vs 2.3 pct seen in dec

• 2019 gdp growth at 1.9 pct vs 1.9 pct seen in dec

• 2020 gdp growth at 1.7 pct vs 1.7 pct seen in dec

• Downside risks related to global factors

• Inflation seen likely to hover around 1.5 pct for remainder of the year

• Inflation to hover around current levels in coming months

Canadian municipalities issued $8.4 billion in building permits in January, up 5.6% following a 2.5% rise in December. The value of permits for three components rose, while industrial buildings (-18.6%) and single-family dwellings (-1.3%) declined. The January increase was largely due to higher construction intentions for multi-family dwellings in Ontario.

The value of permits for multi-family dwellings in Ontario rose 71.0% (+$404.3 million) to $974.0 million in January, more than offsetting the 39.7% decline (-$374.7 million) reported the previous month. Nationally, apartments accounted for approximately three-quarters of the value of permits for multi-family dwellings in January, while row houses made up just under 18%. The rest of the multi-family dwelling component is comprised of permits for doubles such as semi-detached homes, and minor residential additions and renovations (permits under $50,000).

In the week ending March 3, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 231,000, an increase of 21,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 210,000. The 4-week moving average was 222,500, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 220,500.

• Underlying inflation subdued

• Will monitor fx developments

• Ample degree of monetary stimulus necessary

The trend in housing starts was 225,276 units in February 2018, compared to 224,572 units in January 2018, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). This trend measure is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts.

"The national trend in housing starts has been very stable since November 2017, masking offsetting trends for multi-unit and single-detached dwellings," said Bob Dugan, CMHC's chief economist. "Multi-unit starts have trended higher in recent months in most major urban centres while single-detached starts have trended lower."

"At today's meeting the Governing Council of the ECB decided that the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 0.00%, 0.25% and -0.40% respectively. The Governing Council expects the key ECB interest rates to remain at their present levels for an extended period of time, and well past the horizon of the net asset purchases".

Crude oil on a daily chart, we can see that it is moving close to the upside trend of the chart pattern (Triangle).

If we watch the price rejecting new downside movements. in the smaller time frames, we might consider long entries in this commodity.

Therefore, our first target will be near to the downside trend and the second target could be slightly above it - speculating that the price will break above the chart pattern.

Analisando o crude em gráfico diário podemos que se está a aproximar da linha ascendente do padrão gráfico (Triângulo).

Se assistirmos a rejeições por parte do preço, nos time frames mais pequenos, a novas descidas então poder-se-á ponderar entradas longas nesta commodity. Sendo que o primeiro target será perto da linha de tendência descendente e o segundo ligeiramente acima da mesma especulando já que o preço rompa e cumpra o padrão gráfico.

• Says we would need to make complaint to WTO

• Free trade is the only way ahead

• We would also try to talk with U.S.

EUR/USD

Resistance levels (open interest**, contracts)

$1.2512 (4605)

$1.2475 (5041)

$1.2448 (4694)

Price at time of writing this review: $1.2401

Support levels (open interest**, contracts):

$1.2366 (6547)

$1.2333 (2253)

$1.2292 (4745)

Comments:

- Overall open interest on the CALL options and PUT options with the expiration date March, 9 is 133447 contracts (according to data from March, 7) with the maximum number of contracts with strike price $1,2400 (6547);

GBP/USD

Resistance levels (open interest**, contracts)

$1.4011 (1423)

$1.3972 (2423)

$1.3943 (3179)

Price at time of writing this review: $1.3898

Support levels (open interest**, contracts):

$1.3859 (2356)

$1.3829 (2099)

$1.3790 (2043)

Comments:

- Overall open interest on the CALL options with the expiration date March, 9 is 49536 contracts, with the maximum number of contracts with strike price $1,3900 (3179);

- Overall open interest on the PUT options with the expiration date March, 9 is 45816 contracts, with the maximum number of contracts with strike price $1,3900 (2356);

- The ratio of PUT/CALL was 0.92 versus 0.93 from the previous trading day according to data from March, 7

* - The Chicago Mercantile Exchange bulletin (CME) is used for the calculation.

** - Open interest takes into account the total number of option contracts that are open at the moment.

China's exports grew at a faster-than-expected pace in February, data from the General Administration of Customs showed Thursday, cited by rttnews.

In dollar terms, exports jumped 44.5 percent year-over-year in February, much faster than the 11.0 percent rise economists had forecast.

Imports climbed 6.3 percent in February from a year ago, slower than the expected growth of 8.0 percent.

The trade surplus totaled $33.74 billion in February, in contrast to the expected deficit of $5.7 billion.

According to SECO surveys, at the end of February 2018, 143,930 unemployed people were enrolled in the Regional Employment Centers (RAV), 5,231 fewer than in the previous month. The unemployment rate fell from 3.3% in January 2018 to 3.2% in the month under review. Compared with the same month of the previous year, unemployment fell by 15,879 persons (-9.9%). Youth unemployment in February 2018 Youth unemployment (15-24 year-olds) decreased by 754 (-4.6%) to 15,791. Compared to the same month last year, this represents a decrease of 3,317 persons (-17.4%).

Based on provisional data, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reports that price-adjusted new orders in manufacturing had decreased in January 2018 a seasonally and working-day adjusted 3.9% on the previous month. For December 2017, revision of the preliminary outcome resulted in an increase of 3.0% compared with November 2017 (primary +3.8%). Price-adjusted new orders without major orders in manufacturing had decreased in January 2018 a seasonally and working-day adjusted

-2.4% on the previous month.

In January 2018, domestic orders decreased by 2.8% and foreign orders decreased by 4.6% on the previous month. New orders from the euro area were down 5.9%, new orders from other countries decreased 3.8% compared to December 2017.

• In trend terms, the balance on goods and services was a surplus of $94m in January 2018, a decrease of $55m on the surplus in December 2017.

• In seasonally adjusted terms, the balance on goods and services was a surplus of $1,055m in January 2018, a turnaround of $2,201m on the deficit in December 2017.

• In seasonally adjusted terms, goods and services credits rose $1,394m (4%) to $33,924m. Non-rural goods rose $869m (4%) and non-monetary gold rose $770m (54%). Rural goods fell $312m (8%) and net exports of goods under merchanting fell $9m (17%). Services credits rose $77m (1%).

Asia-Pacific stocks rebounded solidly Thursday, as markets in the U.S. and Europe stabilized overnight following weakness sparked by top White House economic adviser Gary Cohn's resignation.

Stocks across Europe finished with gains Wednesday, though shares of metal producers were hit after the resignation of White House economic adviser Gary Cohn. The former Goldman Sachs executive was widely seen as a markets-friendly and stabilizing force in the Trump administration and his departure further stokes worries about the likelihood of a global trade war.

The S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed lower Wednesday as the resignation of top White House economic adviser Gary Cohn stoked fears of a trade war but the tech-laden Nasdaq bucked the trend to extend its winning streak to a fourth session.