To The Moon

Trade War Intensifies, Global Markets Drop; S&P 500 Enters Correction Territory $S&P 500(.SPX)$  $SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust(SPY)$ 

🇺🇸 S&P 500 Index: -1.38% 📉

🇺🇸 Nasdaq Index: -1.95% 📉

🇪🇺 Stoxx 600 Index: -0.13% 📉

🇯🇵 Nikkei 225 Index: -0.08% 📉

🇭🇰 Hang Seng Index: -0.57% 📉

🇨🇳 CSI 300 Index: -0.40% 📉

🇸🇬 Straits Times Index: +0.12% 📈

Market Overview

On Thursday, U.S. markets broadly declined, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite falling 1.4% and 2.0%, respectively. Concerns over an escalating tariff war potentially reigniting inflation and pushing the economy into recession overshadowed signs of cooling inflation.

U.S. February Producer Price Index (PPI) remained flat at 0.0% month-over-month, thanks to a significant decline in trade profit margins, while the expected increase was 0.3%. Core PPI fell by -0.1% month-over-month.

U.S. jobless claims dropped to 220,000 last week, below the expected 225,000, but government spending cuts and the escalating trade war threaten labor market stability.

Asia-Pacific stock markets mostly declined, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and China's CSI 300 Index falling -0.6% and -0.4%, respectively, as investors worried about the growing risks of a global economic downturn due to the trade war.

Upcoming Events

Friday: Preliminary reading of the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index

Key News Today

1. U.S. President Donald Trump has warned of a 200% tariff on European wine, brandy, and other alcoholic beverages, further escalating the ongoing global trade war and increasing fears of a recession.

Tariff on alcohol

2. Alibaba Group $Alibaba(09988)$  $Alibaba(BABA)$   has launched an updated version of its AI assistant application, powered by its proprietary Qwen AI reasoning model, amid intensifying competition in the AI space.

Alibaba Qwen

3. U.S. negotiators have arrived in Moscow for ceasefire talks on the Ukraine war, but doubts remain over whether Russia will accept the terms of a temporary ceasefire formulated without its direct participation.

Ukraine war

4. SoftBank plans to convert a former Sharp LCD panel factory in Japan into a data center to support AI agent development in collaboration with OpenAI.

Softbank

5. OPEC+ has exported a record amount of refined petroleum products, offsetting the impact of its crude oil production cuts. This strategy, led by Saudi Arabia and other member states, aims to increase revenue and expand market share. $Occidental(OXY)$  $Exxon Mobil(XOM)$  

OPEC

Key Takeaways

Economic uncertainty remains high, partly due to tariffs but also due to other factors. Investors are increasingly concerned that a hard landing may ultimately be unavoidable.

@Daily_Discussion  @TigerStars  @Tiger_comments  @TigerGPT