Morning Update (05.02.2025)

📉 Asian markets decline as investor sentiment worsens. Chinese markets are leading losses after returning from New Year celebrations. Contracts for CHN.cash and HK.cash are down 📉 -1.6% and -1.5%, respectively.

🚨 What’s causing the sell-off?

• 🇺🇸 U.S. Customs announced new trade measures:
• Tariffs will now apply to both Hong Kong and mainland China.
• The White House has revoked the duty-free exemption for packages under $800, which boosted growth for Chinese retailers like Temu.
• 📦 The U.S. Postal Service is temporarily halting acceptance of international packages from China and Hong Kong.

📊 Economic data highlights:

• 🇨🇳 China’s January Caixin Services PMI underwhelmed with a reading of 51.0 (vs. 52.2 in December).
• 🇯🇵 Japan’s wage data showed +4.8% y/y growth, reinforcing expectations of a potential Bank of Japan rate hike.
• Former BoJ banker Hideo Hayakawa warned that rates could rise higher than markets anticipate.
• The yen is strengthening on this news, supported by an improved services PMI reading of 53.0 (vs. 50.9 prior).
• 🇳🇿 New Zealand’s Q4 employment report shows rising unemployment at 5.1%, in line with forecasts, but with limited market reaction.

📈 US markets:

• US equity futures remain subdued.
• Alphabet (GOOGL) missed expectations on Google Cloud revenue, tumbling -7.6% after-hours.

🔍 Key reports to watch today:

• 🇪🇺 Eurozone: Final services PMIs & PPI
• 🇺🇸 US: ADP employment report, ISM services data
• 🗣️ Possible updates on the Trump-Xi conversation

🏅 Precious metals surge:

• Gold shines, up +0.7%, reaching an all-time high of $2,860/oz.

📉 Volatility remains low across other instruments.

Morning Update (05.02.2025) was originally published in Coinmonks on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.