Today’s Outlook:

• Stocks managed to rise Friday to wrap up a volatile week and a losing month for the major averages. Friday’s trading session saw a brief pullback after President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy clashed in the Oval Office, which raised concerns about heightened geopolitical risks. The S&P 500 added 1.59% on Friday to close at 5,954.50. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 601.41 points, or 1.39%, closing at 43,840.91. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.63% to settle at 18,847.28. Stocks rallied sharply into Friday’s close. Part of that could have been related to index rebalancing and other technical-buying sources. There was a heavy imbalance to the buy side of market-on-close orders at the New York Stock Exchange. Month to date, the Nasdaq led the way down, sliding nearly 4% in February due largely to a 3.5% drop this week. This was the tech-heavy index’s worst month since April 2024. The S&P 500 declined roughly 1% for the week and 1.4% in February. Meanwhile, the Dow has managed to outperform, rising about 1% in the week. Month to date, however, the 30-stock index has dropped 1.6%. The major benchmarks turned negative for a short period on Friday after Trump, along with Vice President JD Vance, argued with Zelenskyy during an extraordinary moment in front of the media at the White House. The leaders met Friday regarding a possible Ukraine mineral rights deal for the U.S., which investors hoped would be a precursor to eventually bringing about an end to the war with Russia.

• MARKET SENTIMENT : The US will be releasing February’s ISM Manufacturing PMI and ISM Manufacturing Prices. US’ February S&P Global Manufacturing PMI will also come out as well. On the other side of the pond, the Eurozone’s CPI inflation number will be posted on Monday.

• FIXED INCOME & CURRENCY : U.S. Treasury prices jumped Friday after a spat between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy raised concern over growing geopolitical tensions. The benchmark 10-year yield Treasury yield fell 6 basis points to 4.222%. The 2-year Treasury yield was down more than 8 basis points at 3.995%. One basis point is equal to 0.01%. Yields and prices move in opposite directions. The dollar index rose 0.23% to 107.61. The U.S. dollar initially edged lower on Friday after a reading on inflation was largely as anticipated by investors while consumer spending unexpectedly fell. For the week, the dollar is up about 0.9% but down 0.8% for February, poised for its largest monthly decline since September.

• EUROPE : European markets closed mixed on Friday, but notched a tenth straight week of gains despite uncertainty from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index pulled back from earlier losses to close fractionally above the flatline. The global tech bellweather rebounded Friday as investors continued to assess its quarterly earnings report. Trump earlier this week threatened to impose 25% duties on imports from the EU, saying the tariffs would be announced “very soon” and apply to “cars and all other things.”

– The euro slumped after the meeting and was last down 0.29% at $1.0367 after dropping to $1.0359, its lowest since February 12. The euro dropped on Friday, after a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump went up in flames, dashing hopes any peace deal could be reached soon in the war with Russia. Sterling weakened 0.23% to $1.2568.

• ASIA : Asia-Pacific markets fell on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed that tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada will be going ahead and taking effect next week. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 traded 1.16% lower to close at 8,172.4. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 2.88% to close at 37,155.5 and the Topix lost 1.98% to close at 2,682.09. South Korea’s Kospi fell 3.39% to close at 2,532.78 while the small

-cap Kosdaq traded 3.49% lower to close at 743.96. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 3.55%, and mainland China’s CSI 300 was down 1.97% to end the trading day at 3,890.05. Indian stocks were also in negative territory, with the Nifty 50 down 0.99%. The price of Bitcoin fell 1.79% to $82,811.12, marking an almost 25% decline from its record high in January.

– Against the Japanese yen , the dollar strengthened 0.53% to 150.59 but has fallen nearly 3% for the month as investors largely expect the Bank of Japan to hike interest rates this year.

• COMMODITIES : OIL prices fell about 1% on Friday, posting their first monthly drop since November, as markets braced for Washington’s new tariffs and Iraq’s decision to resume oil exports from the Kurdistan region. Uncertainty surrounding OPEC’s production resumption plans in April and ongoing talks to end the war in Ukraine also weighed on investor sentiment. The more active May Brent crude futures fell 86 cents, or 1.16%, to close at $73.18 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled at $69.76 a barrel, down 59 cents, or 0.84%. Baghdad is set to announce the resumption of oil exports from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline, according to an Iraqi oil ministry statement. Iraq will export 185,000 barrels per day through state oil marketer SOMO, and that quantity will gradually increase, the ministry said. GOLD prices fell over 1% on Friday as the dollar held close to two-week highs after U.S. inflation data came in line with expectations, suggesting the Federal Reserve may adopt a cautious stance on additional rate cuts. Spot gold was 1% down at $2,846.96 an ounce. Bullion has so far lost 3% for the week, its steepest weekly fall since November. U.S. gold futures were 1.3% down at $2,858.90. The dollar index was set for a weekly gain, making dollar-priced gold more expensive for overseas buyers.

• JCI broke below its solid support at 6393. NHKSI anticipates JCI to be at a sideways trend below 6500 as a solid resistance and 6000 as the next base support after breaking out of its previous solid support at 6393. On Friday, the regular market suffered another Net Foreign Sell of IDR 2.91 tn in the regular market. As USD/IDR is set to be hovering around IDR 16,600-16,300 for the medium term, we view this to be a stable footing for Indonesia’s currency currently eventhough it indicates currency weakness amongst regional peers.

Company News

• BWPT: Profit Soars 47 Percent, BWPT 2024 Deficit Rp4.06 Trillion
• MDKA: Merdeka Copper Repays Maturity Bonds IDR 764.95 billion
• JPFA:Soaring 227 Percent, JPFA Records IDR3.01 Trillion Profit in 2024

Domestic & Global News
Cheap Industrial Gas (HGBT) Returns, with Higher Prices
UK, European Leaders Join Forces to Draft Ukraine Peace Plan to Take to Us

Download full report HERE.