Market Update 17/02/2025

February 17, 2025

Welcome to our daily market update, where we help keep you informed on the latest happenings in the world of FX. If you have any questions or would like anything further explained, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your account manager or email info@cafx.com

Global financial markets exhibited complex movements on Friday. U.S. stocks showed mixed performance, bond yields declined, oil prices slightly retreated, and the dollar broadly weakened. Asian and European stock markets also displayed varied trends, reflecting investor uncertainty about economic prospects.

U.S. Markets:
At the Wall Street close, the Nasdaq rose 0.4%, the Dow Jones fell 0.4%, and the S&P 500 index remained flat. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield dropped 5 basis points to 4.48%, while oil fell 0.9% to $74.65 per barrel.

Key Economic Data:
U.S. January retail sales declined 0.9% month-on-month, far below the expected -0.2%, with core indicators also significantly underperforming expectations. However, December data saw significant upward revisions, partially offsetting this gap. January industrial production grew 0.5%, above the 0.3% expectation, and capacity utilization was 77.8%, slightly higher than the 77.7% forecast. These data indicate mixed economic conditions.

In China, January aggregate financing reached 7.06 trillion yuan, exceeding the 6.5 trillion yuan expectation. January yuan loans were 5.13 trillion yuan, also surpassing the 4.53 trillion yuan expectation, reflecting a positive credit environment.

Foreign Exchange Market:
The dollar weakened across the board. AUD/USD fluctuated between 0.6311 and 0.63675, ultimately closing at 0.63525. EUR/USD touched a high of 1.0514, while GBP/USD hit a year-to-date high of 1.2631. USD/JPY fell to 152.025, and USD/CNH dropped to a new low of 7.256.

Asian Markets:
Asian stock markets were mixed. Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.8%, China’s Shenzhen 300 rose 0.9%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged 3.7%. Australia’s ASX 200 edged up 0.2%.

European Markets:
European stocks were generally flat. The Stoxx 50 index dipped 0.1%, FTSE 100 and DAX both fell 0.3%, while France’s CAC index slightly increased by 0.1%.

Commodities Market:
The oil market showed some weakness, with Brent crude prices fluctuating above $75.5 per barrel.

Here are the latest mid-market rates:

Currency Pair	Mid-market Rate
NZD/USD	0.5722
NZD/AUD	0.9011
NZD/JPY	87.12
NZD/CNY	4.1480
NZD/EUR	0.5455
NZD/GBP	0.4544
NZD/HKD	4.4522
NZD/SGD	0.7656

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Market Update 17/02/2025

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