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Wall Street closes the week with a correction after a negative surprise in PMI data. The S&P 500 (-1.15%), Nasdaq (-1.65%), DJIA (-1.63%), and Russell 2000 (-2.22%) all declined.
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Business activity in the U.S. nearly fell into contraction. The composite PMI unexpectedly dropped to 50.4 in February (forecast: 53.2; previous: 52.7), mainly due to uncertainty regarding changes in federal government spending and the economic impact of Donald Trump's tariffs.
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Consumer sentiment also collapsed. The sentiment and expectations indices from the University of Michigan unexpectedly fell (to 64.7 and 64, respectively) due to concerns over inflationary pressures.
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Sentiment in Europe was mixed today. Germany's DAX and the UK's FTSE 100 ended the session lower (-0.12% and -0.04%, respectively), while gains were recorded by France's CAC 40 (+0.39%), Italy's FTSE MIB (+0.45%), and Switzerland's SMI (+1.1%).
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Eurozone PMI data was also mixed. The composite index maintained marginal growth from last month (50.2), but the contrast between weak manufacturing and the services sector, which has been supporting the index, is slowly fading.
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The main issues in the Eurozone remain weak demand, leading to job cuts.
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Gold rises 0.05% to $2,940 per troy ounce, recovering slightly. The increase in gold reflects concerns over the impact of Donald Trump's policies on the U.S. and global economy.
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The U.S. dollar and Japanese yen are the strongest G10 currencies today. The dollar index (USDIDX) is up 0.28%, EURUSD is down 0.36%, and USDJPY is trading 0.25% higher.
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The yen is primarily supported by expectations regarding Japan’s monetary policy after today's inflation data came in higher than expected.
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WTI crude oil drops 2.80% to $70.50 per barrel. The decline is due to investor concerns about the state of the U.S. economy following weaker macroeconomic data. Trump's policies are starting to show up in leading economic indicators, such as today's PMI and University of Michigan reports.
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Cryptocurrencies erase earlier gains. The decline is driven by weaker sentiment on Wall Street and the theft of nearly $1.4 billion in Ethereum from ByBit’s official hot wallet. Bitcoin falls 1.40% to $97,000, Ethereum drops 2.00% to $2,685, and the overall altcoin market is down 1.85% to a total market capitalization of $888 billion.
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