China’s consumer prices fell the most in 13 months. Canada has chosen a new prime minister

The US market showed the worst week since September. On Friday, the Dow Jones (US30) rose 0.52% (-2.50% for the week). The S&P 500 Index (US500) gained 0.55% (-3.32% for the week). The Nasdaq Technology Index (US100) gained 0.74% (-3.76% for the week). The US stock markets saw a volatile day on Friday, as Wall Street recovered from earlier losses amid continued uncertainty over President Trump’s trade policies. Stocks recovered losses after Fed Chairman Powell said the Central Bank was in no rush to cut interest rates, but the overall economic outlook remains clouded by trade tensions and political uncertainty. Still, economic data showed mixed results as a weaker-than-expected employment report showed non-farm payroll employment rose by 151k in February, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.1%.

Former Canadian Central Bank official Mark Carney has won the race to become leader of Canada’s ruling Liberal Party and will succeed Justin Trudeau as prime minister. During the campaign, Carney said he supported retaliatory tariffs against the US in dollar terms and a coordinated strategy to increase investment. He has repeatedly complained that Canada’s growth under Trudeau has not been good enough. There is a risk that the new prime minister will seek a snap election to get a popular mandate.

Equity markets in Europe were mostly down on Friday. Germany’s DAX (DE40) fell by 1.75% (week-to-date +1.44%), France’s CAC 40 (FR40) closed down 0.94% (week-to-date -0.23%), Spain’s IBEX 35 (ES35) gained 0.17% (week-to-date -0.64%), and the UK’s FTSE 100 (UK100) closed negative 0.03% (week-to-date -1.47%) on Friday. In Europe, European Union leaders reaffirmed their commitment to Ukraine and pledged increased military support during an emergency meeting on Thursday.

WTI crude oil rose 1% to $67 a barrel on Friday after US President Donald Trump threatened sanctions against Russia if it fails to reach a ceasefire with Ukraine. Trump mentioned he was “strongly considering” sanctions against Russian banks and tariffs on Russian goods due to the ongoing attacks.

Asian markets were mostly down last week. Japan’s Nikkei 225 (JP225) was down 1.72%, China’s FTSE China A50 (CHA50) added 0.29%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng (HK50) increased by 4.71%, and Australia’s ASX 200 (AU200) was negative 3.36%.

China’s consumer prices fell the most in 13 months. Chinese consumer prices fell to 0.7% y/y in February 2025, exceeding market projections that expected a 0.5% decline and reversing the 0.5% rise in the previous month. This marked the first consumer deflation since January 2024 amid weakening seasonal demand following the Spring Festival in late January. On a month-on-month basis, CPI fell by 0.2%, shifting from January’s 11-month high of 0.7%, the first decline since last November. Meanwhile, producer prices fell to 2.2% y/y, marking the 29th consecutive month of decline. The offshore yuan depreciated to around 7.25 per dollar as investors reacted to weaker-than-expected Chinese inflation data that underscored lingering risks of deflation.

Japan’s index of leading economic indicators, which gauges the economic outlook for the coming months based on data such as job offers and consumer sentiment, rose to 108.0 in January 2025 from a downwardly revised 107.9 in December 2024, the highest since last October. Meanwhile, consumer sentiment weakened to its lowest level since March 2023.