STATE OF THE MARKETS

Stocks dropped amid higher inflation. US stocks dropped lower after the Labor Department reported the highest annual CPI (7.9%) in 40 years, which may prompt the Federal Reserves to make more aggressive moves. Dow (-0.34%), S&P (-0.43%) and Nasdaq (-0.95%) including Russell (-0.23%) pared earlier gains as the Dollar index climbed back to the 98.50 mark. The 10Y benchmark continued its upward trajectory back to 2.00% the figure.

In the commodities market, crude was under pressure amid the Iran nuclear deal and the UAE messages to release more oil. The black gold settled lower around $103.40/bl as New York closed. Gold remained well supported above the $1,980/oz barrier and closed around $1,996.35/oz. Elsewhere, iron ore pulled back further on profit taking to settle near $157/tn, 2.5% lower from the previous day close.

In the FX space, Kiwi, Aussie and Dollar remain in the driver seats of demand in the medium and long term accounts as Sterling, Euro and Swiss remain on offer. Short term traders seemed to return in bidding the comdolls trio as sterling, Yen and Euro were shifted to the back burner.

On Friday, the peace talks will continue to be in the spotlight while markets look for earnings reports from Genius Sports (GEN), Ballard Power (BLDP) and PLx Pharma (PLXP) as well as the latest number on consumer sentiments.

OUR PICK – No New Pick

No new pick going into the weekend. It’s uncommon for stocks and bonds to fall together and this points to a larger flight to safety which are mostly to cash and commodities. As of March 9th, US stocks reported a net outflows of $4.1 billion, $5.8 billion outflows from taxable bonds and a massive $26.2 billion outflows from money markets. We suspect that inflation worries prompted consumers to stock up household essentials while cash sat on the sideline, ready to be pumped back to the markets once the time comes.

Trades updates: 

Equities: We took some profits in AUY (18% undervalued, 2.17% yields) and see around $6.50 as the fair value, we remain bullish COG (CTRA) (25% undervalued) yielding 2.28%, T (17% undervalued) at 8.97% yields, MO (21% undervalued) at 7.03% yields, VIPS (47% undervalued with 4.79 z-score) and we intend to add more CRON (16% undervalued with 27.69 z-score) as the z-score improves.

FX & Commodities: We remain bearish AUD/NZD.

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Risk Disclaimer:

This article is for general information purpose only. It is not an investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any securities/oz. Opinions expressed are of the authors and not necessarily of MFM Securities Limited or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. Leveraged trading is high risk and not suitable for all. You could lose all of your deposited funds.