Headlines Mar 15

​Metals

Mining veteran Mick Davis has launched a $300 million special purpose acquisition company, accelerating his move into green metals

BlackRock-backed GV Gold PJSC is planning an initial public offering in Moscow that may raise as much as $500 million

Gold Gains as Investors Weigh Inflation Ahead of Fed Meeting

ETFs Cut Gold Holdings for 20th Straight Day, Buy Silver

Polish Central Bank Plans to Buy at Least 100 Tons of Gold

Copper Holds Gains as China Data Adds to Demand Optimism

China’s Building Splurge Pushes Metals Output to Record Levels

Iron Ore’s Rout Deepens as China Steel Hub Widens Mill Checks

China Jan.-Feb. Crude Steel Output Rose 12.9% (YoY) to 174.99m Ton

Iron Ore Giant Fast-Tracks Green Plans to Hit Emissions Goal

Billionaire Commodities Dealmaker Gets Squeezed by Rising Rates

Watch European Miners as Iron Ore Slumps With China Demand Eyed

U.S. Steel Boosts First-Quarter Profit Outlook on Price Rise

 

Oil

The U.S. attempt to prevent Iran exporting oil suffered a blow after a United Arab Emirates sheikh laid claim to the cargo that Washington seized

Saudi Arabia’s cautious approach to raising oil output to buoy prices may be reaching its limit.

Oil opened the week in robust form after a raft of economic data from China added to signs of recovery from the coronavirus pandemic just as the OPEC+ alliance presses on with output curbs to drain global inventories

Crude Oil Tops $66 as China’s Recovery Aids Outlook for Bulls

Saudi Policy That Had Saved Oil Markets May be Reaching Limit

Brent Crude Futures Erase Earlier Gains in London

Citi Warns Brent May Spike to $80 on ‘Aggressive’ OPEC+ Actions

Iran Says Israel Likely Behind Container Ship Explosion

Iraq Gives Full April Vol to at Least 2 in Asia

S. Korean Refiners Buy 6M Bbls of U.S. Crude for June Arrival

China’s Jan.-Feb. Apparent Oil Demand Rises 16.81% (YoY)

Rosneft Siberian Units Limit Oil Flows to Transneft’s Pipeline

Chevron Pasadena Restart; Shell Norco; Bilbao

Neste Selects Rotterdam as Location for Next Renewables Refinery

Kuwait Tells Customers Eocene Crude Will Soon Be Available

Hyundai Oilbank to Export Gasoline to the U.S. for First Time

Goldman Predicts Plunge in Gulf Borrowing Needs as Oil Rallies

Iran Sets Light Crude Price to Asia at $1.25/B Premium for April

Qatar Sets Land Crude Official Price at 75C/B Premium for April

 

Events & Synopsis

U.S Futures indicates positive opening for the markets

AMC Entertainment, GameStop and American Airlines lead gains in premarket trading

Biden Eyes First Major Tax Hike Since 1993 in Next Economic Plan

Astra Vaccine Woes Grow as Regulators Try to Ease Clot Fears

Astra Says Vaccine Safe; Global Cases Climb

CEOs Become Vaccine Activists as Back-to-Office Push Grows

Pemex CEO Touts Discovery of Possible Billion-Barrel Field

Jack Daniel’s Faces EU Tariff Hike as Trade Thaw Omits Whiskey

U.K. House Sellers Boost Asking Prices as Buyer Inquiries Surge

Tencent Loses $62 Billion, Wiping Out Value of Fintech Business

Stripe’s Value Jumps to $95 Billion, Becomes Top U.S. Startup

Soros Family Office Hires Ex-Goldman Trader for H.K. Uni

Swiss Ask If Late Saudi King’s $100 Million Gift Broke Law

Roche to Buy Covid Test Maker GenMark for $1.8 Billion

Danone Replaces Chairman After Investors Called for Faber’s Job

Merkel’s Party Suffers in Regional Votes as Greens Win Big

Europe’s Real Estate Investors Put Their Faith in the Office

Deliveroo to Raise $1.4 Billion in IPO After Lockdown Surge

Euroclear Shifts $119 Billion of Irish Stocks From U.K. to EU

Russian Rate Hikes Coming Soon as Morgan Stanley Joins Chorus

H&M Says Sales Are Rebounding This Month on Eased Restrictions

Hong Kong Gives Vaccine Access to Young Adults as Uptake Slumps

Junk-Rated Laos Makes Third Attempt at Dollar Bond Offering

Protests Signal a Reckoning in Australia’s Struggle With Sexism

Chinese Stocks Slump as Upbeat Data Deepens Liquidity Concerns

Short Sellers Circle AirAsia After Stock Hits One-Year High

A $25 Billion Fund Manager Says Market is Wrong on RBI-Hike Bets

Billionaire Commodities Dealmaker Gets Squeezed by Rising Rates

China’s Soaring Economic Activity Masks Uneven Recovery

Nintendo Is Said to Target Record Year in Switch, Game Sales

Baidu AI Chip Unit Raises $230 Million Before Potential Spin Off

 

Biden discusses stimulus

Senate to vote on Haaland nomination for Secretary of the Interior

Blinken, Austin in Japan

First Lady Jill Biden travels to Burlington, NJ to promote the coronavirus relief package

VP Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff travel to Las Vegas, NV to promote the coronavirus relief package

U.S. House next meets March 16

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visit Japan

Full Senate will vote on the confirmation of Deb Haaland to be Secretary of the Interior

Biden Envoys Kick Off Asian Allies Visit to Build Unity on China

 

9:50am: President Biden receives Daily Brief

11am: Press Briefing by White House COVID-19 Response Team and public health officials

12:30pm: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki

1:45pm: President Biden holds event to discuss the implementation of his $1.9 trillion stimulus

3pm: U.S. Senate convenes

6:00pm: Senate Foreign Relations Committee to receives closed briefing on the policy and legal rationale of U.S. airstrikes in Syria

 

Annual General Meetings: OCSL US, SANM US

Other Events: BYSI US, HUM US

 

Forex

A gauge of the dollar’s strength was little changed and Treasury yields inched lower.

European stock markets and U.S. equity futures advanced, while oil prices increased as economic data from China showed a surge in industrial output

Asset managers unwound bearish dollar bets by a record in the week ended March 9 as growing optimism about the U.S. economic outlook lifted Treasury yields

The euro fell a second day against the dollar while bunds and Italian bonds advanced, outperforming Treasuries, amid a political setback for Chancellor Merkel’s CDU party in regional elections; focus is also on the ECB weekly PEPP breakdown later Monday

New Zealand dollar led gains among G-10 peers as leveraged funds bought the kiwi on speculation of M&A flows involving the acquisition of assets from Tilt Renewables; Sweden’s krona led losses after inflation came in weaker than forecast

The yen dropped to its lowest level in nine months as elevated Treasury yields spurred demand for the greenback, before trimming losses

China’s economic activity surged in the first two months of the year compared with a year ago, though the figures showed an uneven recovery with strong industrial output fueled by exports but lagging consumer spending. The official data released Monday show unprecedented growth rates of more than 30% for key indicators, largely due to distortions when compared to last year’s shutdowns

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said an increase in interest rates in financial markets reflects optimism that the U.K. economy will bounce back shortly

The European Commission is planning to begin legal action against the U.K. on Monday over the government’s decision to unilaterally change parts of the Brexit deal relating to Northern Ireland, according to a person with knowledge of the discussions

Turkey and Brazil may deliver the Group of 20’s first rate hikes in 2021 this week, potentially lending support to two currencies caught in the crosshairs amid surging U.S. Treasury yields

Bitcoin retreated Monday after scaling $61,000 for the first time on bets that some of the pandemic relief payments in the U.S. will end up chasing the digital token’s towering rally

A strong recovery from the Covid-19 recession is likely to prompt Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues to lift interest rates in 2023, but that isn’t going to show up in their forecasts this week, a survey showed

The BOJ policy review will probably conclude with no pledge to widen the yield band as the central bank seeks to avoid measures that may be interpreted as tightening, and as a result 10-20y JGBs should outperform, says Barclays