EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Fig 1: USD BBDXY Index & US 10yr Tsy Yield
Source: MNI - Market News/Bloomberg/Refinitiv.
UK
RUSSIA (BBG): “The UK and European Union will advance talks on how to seize frozen Russian assets to jointly boost defense spending, as they seek ways to increase economic pressure on Vladimir Putin ahead of any peace talks to end his war on Ukraine.”
TRADE (RTRS): “Britain's business and trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds travels to Washington on Tuesday to meet his U.S. counterparts in the hope of strengthening economic ties, as President Donald Trump continues to target long-standing allies with tariffs.”
ECONOMY (BBC): “The chancellor has told regulators there is "too much bureaucracy" as she aims to slash red tape to boost economic growth. Rachel Reeves met industry watchdogs on Monday, revealing plans to cut the cost of regulation, including on environmental measures, and axe some bodies entirely.”
WAGES (BBC): “Tesco will lift pay for its store staff by 5.2% but will scrap the extra pay for working on Sunday.”
CANADA (BBC): “King Charles gave a warm welcome to the new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney when he visited Buckingham Palace. It was another symbolic gesture of support for Canada from a King, wearing a red tie, who has to send coded signals rather than spell things out in words, as Canada faces threats from US President Donald Trump.”
EU
DEFENCE (MNI): EU Defence Bond Approval To Pave Way For Summer Issuance
GERMANY (BBG): “Germany’s top court rejected additional attempts to prevent the nation’s outgoing parliament from making changes to the constitution to remove limits on defense borrowing and set up a €500 billion ($546 billion) infrastructure fund.”
GERMANY (ECONOMIST): “On Tuesday Germany’s Bundestag votes on a huge spending package proposed by Friedrich Merz of the centre-right Christian Democrats. He will probably soon become Germany’s chancellor. Should the package pass (and then be approved by the upper house of parliament), it will be the biggest fiscal expansion in Germany’s post-war history.”
RUSSIA/UKRAINE (BBC): “The UK and France have urged Russia's President Vladimir Putin to prove he wants a peace deal with Ukraine, ahead of talks between Putin and Donald Trump on Tuesday. French President Emmanuel Macron hailed the "courage" of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenksy in agreeing to a ceasefire proposal, and challenged Russia to do the same.”
US
FED (MNI BRIEF): U.S. President Donald Trump has nominated Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman to the key role of vice chair for banking supervision at the central bank, Bowman said in a statement Monday.
FED (MNI INTERVIEW): Fed Must Dampen Stagflation ‘Vibes’ - Roberts
US/RUSSIA (RTRS): “U.S. President Donald Trump said he would speak to Russia's Vladimir Putin on Tuesday morning about ending the Ukraine war, with territorial concessions by Kyiv and control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant likely to feature prominently in the talks.”
ENERGY (BBG): “US President Donald Trump said he would look to counter China’s economic advantage from coal-based electricity by authorizing his administration to ramp up production of energy from the fossil fuel.”
US/CHINA (BBG): “President Donald Trump said Chinese leader Xi Jinping would visit Washington soon, as trade tensions build between the world’s two largest economies.”
OTHER
MIDDLE EAST (BBG): “ Israel said it launched military strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza, a move that threatens to undermine a shaky truce. Israel Defense Forces and Israel Security Agency said in a joint statement on Tuesday that they were conducting extensive strikes on targets belonging to Hamas in the Gaza Strip.”
AUSTRALIA (MNI POLICY): Different measures say different things about the pace of Australian wage growth. On MNI Policy MainWire now, for more details please contact sales@marketnews.com.
CANADA (MNI BRIEF): New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Monday his country will face limits on matching any further U.S. tariffs dollar-for-dollar, one of the first indications of how he will manage the conflict between two of the world's largest trade partners.
CHINA
CONSUMPTION (21st CENTURY BUSINESS HERALD): “Beijing’s CNY300 billion special treasury funds for consumer goods trade-ins are expected to drive a net increase of CNY700-800 billion in consumption and quicken spending on goods by 1.5-1.6 percentage points, said Wang Qing, chief macro analyst at Golden Credit Rating.”
INDUSTRY (YICAI): “China’s added value of industrial enterprises increased by 5.9% year-on-year during January and February, slower than December’s 6.2%, due to factors including reduced working days and the imposition of tariffs, according to experts interviewed by Yicai.”
OFFSHORE FLOWS( CSJ): “China saw net inflows of cross-border funds in February, with a surplus of enterprises and individual payments totalling USD29 billion, said Li Bin, deputy director at the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.”
STEEL (MNI BRIEF): China produced 166 million tonnes of crude steel during January to February, down 1.5% y/y, data from the China Iron and Steel Association showed on Tuesday.
CHINA MARKETS
MNI: PBOC Net Injects CNY235.6 Bln via OMO Tuesday
MNI (BEIJING) - The People's Bank of China (PBOC) conducted CNY273.3 billion via 7-day reverse repos, with the rate unchanged at 1.50%. The operation led to a net injection of CNY235.6 billion after offsetting the maturity of CNY37.7 billion today. There is another CNY120 billion treasury cash deposit matures today, according to Wind Information.
MNI: PBOC Sets Yuan Parity Higher At 7.1733 Tues; -0.54% Y/Y
MNI (BEIJING) - The People's Bank of China (PBOC) set the dollar-yuan central parity rate higher at 7.1733 on Tuesday, compared with 7.1688 set on Monday. The fixing was estimated at 7.2290 by Bloomberg survey today.
MARKET DATA
NEW ZEALAND FEB. NON-RESIDENT BOND HOLDINGS 61.8%; JAN. 61.9%
MARKETS
US TSYS: Cash Bonds Slightly Richer, Focus On Tomorrow's FOMC
In today's Asia-Pac session, TYM5 is 110-23+, +0-04 from closing levels.
JGBS: Steady Ahead Of Tomorrow’s Policy Decision Double Header: BoJ & FOMC
JGB futures are weaker, -8 compared to settlement levels, after giving up early strength.
AUSSIE BONDS: Slightly Mixed, FOMC Decision (Wed) & Feb Jobs (Thu)
ACGBs (YM -1.0 & XM +1.5) are slightly mixed.
BONDS: NZGBS: Subdued Session, FOMC Decision (Wed) & Q4 GDP (Thu)
NZGBs closed little changed after dealing in relatively narrow ranges in today’s data-light local session.
FOREX: USD Index Ticks Up With Middle East Tensions, Yen Underperforms Though
The USD has recovered some ground in the first part of Tuesday trade, the BBDXY index last near 1264.05, up close to 0.15% versus end NY levels from Monday's session.
ASIA STOCKS: A Strong Day for Regional Stocks Whilst Indonesia Plunges.
Indonesia’s ongoing equity market malaise turned into a bloodbath today as the Jakarta composite cratered on fiscal concerns, weak FX and government intervention in the central bank.
OIL: Crude Continues To Climb On Geopolitical Developments
Oil prices have trended gradually higher during APAC trading today as the geopolitical risk premium grows. Brent is up 0.3% to $71.26 and WTI 0.3% higher at $67.75, both below initial resistance levels. Both benchmarks are slightly off their intraday peaks. The USD is up 0.2%.
Gold Consolidates Above $3,000
UP TODAY (TIMES GMT/LOCAL)
Date | GMT/Local | Impact | Country | Event |
18/03/2025 | 0930/0930 | ![]() | Consumer Price inflation weight update | |
18/03/2025 | 1000/1000 | ** | ![]() | Gilt Outright Auction Result |
18/03/2025 | 1000/1100 | * | ![]() | Trade Balance |
18/03/2025 | 1000/1100 | *** | ![]() | ZEW Current Expectations Index |
18/03/2025 | - | ![]() | FOMC Meetings with S.E.P. | |
18/03/2025 | 1230/0830 | *** | ![]() | CPI |
18/03/2025 | 1230/0830 | *** | ![]() | Housing Starts |
18/03/2025 | 1230/0830 | ** | ![]() | Import/Export Price Index |
18/03/2025 | 1255/0855 | ** | ![]() | Redbook Retail Sales Index |
18/03/2025 | 1315/0915 | *** | ![]() | Industrial Production |
18/03/2025 | 1530/1130 | ** | ![]() | US Treasury Auction Result for 52 Week Bill |
18/03/2025 | 1700/1300 | ** | ![]() | US Treasury Auction Result for 20 Year Bond |
19/03/2025 | 2350/0850 | ** | ![]() | Trade |
19/03/2025 | 2350/0850 | * | ![]() | Machinery orders |
19/03/2025 | 0001/0001 | * | ![]() | Brightmine pay deals for whole economy |
19/03/2025 | 0300/1200 | *** | ![]() | BOJ Policy Rate Announcement |
19/03/2025 | 0430/1330 | ** | ![]() | Industrial Production |
19/03/2025 | 1000/1100 | *** | ![]() | HICP (f) |
19/03/2025 | 1100/0700 | ** | ![]() | MBA Weekly Applications Index |
19/03/2025 | 1200/1300 | ![]() | ECB de Guindos In Madrid | |
19/03/2025 | 1300/1400 | ![]() | ECB Elderson At European Financials Conference |