Market Commentary: Monday 16th March

US President Donald Trump has ramped up pressure on nations to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Trump has signalled to Chinese President Xi that he may delay the summit with China if Beijing is unwilling to assist in Hormuz. China has not made any official response yet. President Trump said he hopes China, France, Japan, South Korea, and the UK will take part in sending warships to keep the strait open.

Overall sentiment has been improving. Dubai is slowly resuming flights after a temporary suspension due to numerous drone attacks near its main airport. Equity markets stabilised, with S&P 500 futures gaining 0.6% after a four-day streak of losses, while Asian equities rose 0.2%.

On the economic calendar today, US February Industrial Production is due at 1:15 PM. US and Chinese officials are also expected to hold talks in Paris. The week ahead is packed with central bank rate decisions — the Bank of Canada, the FOMC, the Bank of England, and the ECB.

• Spot gold fell 0.2% to $5,007.58 an ounce
• Bitcoin rose 2.9% to $73,795.45
• Ether rose 6.3% to $2,263.32

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