Asian Market Update: Shanghai Copper opens the week limit up, as traders assess the implications of Chile’s earthquake and China’s Feb PMI data
ECONOMIC DATA
- (NZ) New Zealand JAN Visitor Arrivals: -2.4% v 8.5% prior
- (AU) Australia FEB AiG Performance of Mfg Index: 53.8 v 51 prior (highest since Dec 2007)
- (AU) AUSTRALIA FEB TD SECURITIES [...]

AP – Asian stock markets advanced Monday, with Hong Kong’s index up nearly 2 percent, after China said manufacturing continued to grow last month albeit at a slower pace.

CURRENCY TRADING SUMMARY – 1st March (00:30GMT)
U.S. Dollar Trading (USD) ended the week on the backfoot as the Euro rallied on Greece bailout talk from Germany and commodities put on a solid performance. Q4 GDP was revised higher to 5.9% from 5.7%. Of Concern though was the drop in January Existing Home Sales by -7.2% [...]

Reuters – Payrolls could give the U.S. stock market some direction this week as investors comb through the key report on one of the economy’s weakest areas.

Russell Bailyn submits:
Some of you already know that I’m a big fan of indexes and low-cost investing. I’m still a fan of the occasional manager who consistently outperforms his / her benchmark but I’m still skeptical that it’s worth the added expense over a long period of time. This post is specifically [...]