S&P 500 Posts Best Gain in Three Weeks

US stocks rose to an all-time high on optimism over the vaccine rollout and after the Federal Reserve freed banks from restrictions on dividends. The S&P 500 rose by 1.66% to 3,974.54 while Dow Jones was up 453.40 points (1.39%) to 33,072.88.

US Consumer Sentiment Climbs as Virus Restrictions Ease

US consumer sentiment continued to improve in late March to a one-year high as more Americans got coronavirus vaccinations and business restrictions eased in many states.The University of Michigan’s final sentiment index increased to 84.9 from a preliminary March reading of 83, according to data Friday. The median projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 83.6.

ECB’s Lane Says Euro-area Recovery Heavily Reliant on Fiscal Aid

ECB’s Chief Economist Philip Lane said the euro area’s recovery from the pandemic is heavily dependent on fiscal policy, in a signal to governments not to delay their joint stimulus or pull back national support too soon. It is essential that fiscal policy counters the pandemic shock to incomes and the productive capacity of firms, ensures that overall demand conditions promote a timely recovery, and underpins medium-term growth prospects through growth-enhancing public investment and reforms.

UK Retail Sales Post Partial Rebound After Lockdown Plunge

UK retail sales posted a modest rebound in February after a brutal start to the year, when a lockdown to contain the coronavirus forced non-essential stores to close. The volume of goods sold in shops and online rose 2.1% from January, the Office for National Statistics said, in line with economists’ expectations. Sales excluding auto fuel climbed 2.4%.

Profits at China’s Industrial Firms Surge After 2020 Lockdown

Profits at Chinese industrial firms soared in the first two months of the year, largely due to the low base a year ago when the economy was paralyzed by the coronavirus outbreak, as well as a boost in exports. Industrial profits climbed 179% in January and February from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

Philippine Central Banker Targets Street Stalls in E-money Push

Philippine central bank Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan has long wanted to make electronic money so ubiquitous that one could pay at a street stall via mobile phone. Now he’s leading the bank’s digital drive. Tangonan is point man for the central bank’s push to convert half of all retail payments into digital form by 2023 and extend financial inclusion to 70% of Filipino adults through e-payment accounts.

End of Australia’s US$68 Billion Job-saving Stimulus Tests Economy

Australia’s JobKeeper wage subsidy expired, bringing to a close the nation’s largest Covid stimulus measure. Treasury estimates up to 150,000 jobs could be lost with the end of the program and acknowledges some firms will collapse without government support. This could hit pause on a hiring boom that’s seen unemployment fall to 5.8% in February from a pandemic peak of 7.5% and early fears of 10% joblessness.

Oil’s Most Volatile Week in Months Closes With a Whimper

Oil in New York barely nudged this week despite whipsawing over several days, as renewed lockdowns in some regions blunted near-term demand outlooks and muted the impact of a standstill at the Suez. Brent crude for May settlement dropped US$0.12 to US$64.45 per barrel.

Source: Affin Hwang Research - 31 Mar 2021