The Paris Bourse limited the damage and halved its initial losses: after starting the session down -0.8%, the CAC40 only lost 0.4% (to 7,380) and is now back in contact with the 7,390 mark (annual low).
The Euro-Stoxx50 only lost -0.3% to 4,440, but is also threatening to sink to its annual low of January 11.

The day got off to a bad start with the Tokyo Stock Exchange (-0.8%) interrupting its upward sequence (6 consecutive sessions of gains, for a +7.5% gain leading to the 1st test of the 36,000Pts mark in 24 years).

China's stock market finished mixed (from -0.3 to +0.3%) as the government estimates growth of +5.2% in 2023.
Seoul's stock market plunged -2.5% following escalating tensions with North Korea.

Wall Street's reopening after the three-day weekend of 'Martin Luther King Jr. Day' is expected to be down, with gaps of -0.3% to -0.4% (comparable to what we're seeing in Europe today).

Unsurprisingly, Donald Trump won yesterday's Republican primary in Iowa with over 50% of the vote, well ahead of runner-up Ron de Santis with 20%.
He consolidates his status as the favorite of the Grand Old Party in the run-up to the November presidential election.

Investors were treated to Morgan Stanley's pre-trade results: they were weighed down by a $535 million provision, but sales exceeded expectations thanks to the investment banking business.
On the macro front, manufacturing activity in the New York region continued to contract sharply in January: the Empire State index sank further into the red zone this month, to -43.7, the lowest since May 2020, compared with -14.5 the previous month.
Economists were forecasting a rise in this indicator to around -5.
The new orders sub-index deteriorated to -49.4, from -11.3 in December, while the component measuring the number of hours worked deteriorated to -6.1, from -2.4 in December, highlighting a weakening labor market.

In Europe, the ZEW index of German investor sentiment edged up by +2.4pts to 15.2 points, compared with December 2023... but Germany continues to suffer from freeway and city-center blockades (farmers and truckers opposed to the abolition of fuel rebates).

In a sign of investors' reduced appetite for riskier assets, the dollar, seen as a safe-haven asset, rallied sharply against the euro, which fell by -0.65% to $1.088.

On the bond market, the yield on 10-year US Treasuries tightened by 3.95% to 4.0250%, despite the poor Empire State.
The yield on Bunds and OATs, on the other hand, eased by -1Pt to 2.189% and 2.718% respectively.

Oil prices are consolidating modestly after last week's sharp rise due to tensions in the Red Sea, with Houthi rebels disrupting the passage of ships through this maritime channel.

Brent crude is down 0.2% at $78.5 a barrel, while US light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) is stable at $73.

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