Markets Overview
- ASX SPI 200 futures down 0.9% to 7,149.00
- Dow Average down 1.5% to 34,394.46
- Aussie little changed at 0.7194 per US$
- U.S. 10-year yield fell 6.2bps to 1.9771%
- Australia 3-year bond yield fell 4bps to 1.62%
- Australia 10-year bond yield fell 3bps to 2.21%
- Gold spot up 1.6% to $1,899.97
- Brent futures down 2.1% to $92.82/bbl
Economic Events
- 11am: (AU) Australia to Sell A$1 Billion 3.25% 2025 Bonds
Stocks slumped, while traders sought safety in bonds and other haven assets as heightened concern over geopolitical risks added to worries about the outlook for central bank policy.
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said bringing down inflation may require the central bank to overshoot a neutral target interest-rate, which he sees as about 2%. He repeated his view that the Fed should hike by 100 basis points by July 1, and start a balance-sheet runoff in the second quarter, in response to the fastest inflation in 40 years.
Other News
Passengers had a movie-like experience onboard a flight in Malaysia this past week after someone spotted a snake slithering through the plane’s overhead lights.
In a video posted on TikTok, the silhouette of a long snake could be seen above passengers on an AirAsia flight leaving the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur to the city of Tawau on Feb. 10. A caption on the video, which has over 2.6 million views, translates to “snake in plane.” Many comments on the video alluded to the 2006 cult classic “Snakes on a Plane,” asking where the movie’s star, Samuel L. Jackson, was when they needed him.
AirAsia’s chief safety officer Captain Liong Tien Ling said in a statement to CNN that several passengers noticed the snake and alerted workers. Once the pilot was told, the flight was re-routed to the city of Kuching, around 550 miles west of Tawau. Ling added the plane was then fumigated, assuming the snake was taken out before passengers were put back on the plane to reach their destination.
