On the back of a quiet day in the US. markets with the ongoing celebration of Martin Luther King Day, the European and the Asian markets closed higher on Friday following the release of the latest China’s growth data.
China posted an expansion of 8.1% in its GDP in 2021, posting a growth well above the government’s annual target; however, even with the fastest growth in a decade, the GDP of China seems to be slowing down on a quarterly basis with challenges like Omicron and property plunge posing as an issue. The trends in the Asian markets were mixed with Nikkei climbing 0.74% while Shanghai 0.58%. The Asian markets will keep a lookout for the Bank of Japan’s decision on the interest rates scheduled to happen today.
In Europe, the pan-European STOXX 600 closed 0.8% higher than the previous trading session while FTSE 100 was 0.91% higher. Apart from this, Credit Suisse that is recognized as the world’s best private bank went through another scandal where its chairman resigned after breaking the coronavirus quarantine rules.
Moreover, GSK rejected a bid by Unilever for its consumer health division leading to Unilever shares slipping nearly 7% whereas GSK rising by 4%.
Moreover, amid the restrained output by the major producers, Brent crude gained 0.1% to reach $86.15 while U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude reached $84.11 a barrel, the highest since Nov.10’ 2021. Gold remains steady at $1,815-$1,830/ounce range with US 10-year treasury yields jumping more than 7 basis points hovering close to two-year peak at 1.748%. Further, while Dollar index is flat and just above the 95-ark in early trade today, Bitcoin traded lower and reached the 42k mark.
SGX Nifty indicated flat/positive opening for the Indian markets whereas US futures are flat in early trade today.
