US S&P 500 all-time high, China LPR unchanged

Investors will be looking out for an update from China’s central bank on its one- and five-year loan prime rates at around 09:15 a.m. Singapore time.

The one- and five-year LPR currently stand at 3.45% and 4.2%, respectively, and markets expect the People’s Bank of China to make no changes to the rates.

PBOC surprised market participants and held the rate on some 995 billion yuan ($138.84 billion) worth of one-year medium-term lending facility (MLF) loans unchanged at 2.50% last week.

“The market expects both the 1Y and 5Y LPRs to be unchanged at 3.45% and 4.2% respectively,” Commerzbank analysts wrote in a client note, while also noting that China’s foreign direct investment recorded its biggest annual drop in 2023 since 2009.

Commerzbank said FDI in China fell 8% last year, in Chinese yuan terms, attributing the decline to several factors including the country’s economic slowdown, high global interest rates, increasing regulatory and geopolitical risks, and the West’s tough stance on China’s technology sector.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

The anti-obesity drug market is expected to remain in focus this year after a bumper 2023 for weight loss drug makers Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, according to Berenberg.

The Germany-headquartered investment bank expects a combination of new clinical data and the expiry of Novo‘s patent for the active ingredient in first-generation GLP-1 drugs to unleash new opportunities for several generic drug manufacturers in Europe. GLP-1 drugs encourage the production of hormones that cause weight loss through reduced appetite.

Berenberg’s analysts have named 4 stocks of generic drug makers that are set to benefit from the expiry of these patents.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

Oil prices edged slightly lower on Friday but booked a weekly gain on tensions in the Middle East.

The West Texas Intermediate contract for February fell 67 cents, or .9%, to settle at $73.41 a barrel. The Brent contract for March shed 54 cents, or .68%, to settle at $78.56 a barrel.

U.S. crude booked a one week gain of 1% as investors keep a close eye on whether attacks by militants in the Red Sea could lead to a supply disruption. The global bench mark was up .47% for the week.

— Spencer Kimball

The University of Michigan’s Survey of Consumers released on Friday indicated that consumers are growing increasingly confident on the economy and falling inflation.

The survey showed a reading of 78.8 for January, its highest level since July 2021 and up 21.4% from a year ago. That followed a big jump in December and comes despite public opinion surveys showing concern about the nation’s direction.

On a two-month basis, sentiment showed its largest increase since 1991, said Joanne Hsu, the survey’s director.

More on the survey results can be found here.

— Hakyung Kim, Jeff Cox

Bitcoin and ether rose with the stock market to end the week after the S&P 500 jumped to a new all-time high.

The price of bitcoin was up 2% at $41,763.87, after falling back to the key support level of $40,000 Thursday. Ether was 2% higher and trading at $2,491.82.

“Positive consumer sentiment and slowing inflation helped fuel the rally in risk-on assets,” said Ryan Rasmussen, analyst at Bitwise Asset Management. “Investors generally view crypto investments as similar to tech and risk-on investments, so crypto riding this rally makes sense.”

Bitcoin is still on pace to post a 4% loss for a week. It’s fallen 10% since Jan. 10, when bitcoin ETFs were greenlit to begin trading in the U.S. The ETF approvals were widely expected to be a sell-the-news event. Ether is on pace to finish the week lower by 3%.

The move in crypto assets wasn’t enough to pull up equities, however. Coinbase, Microstrategy and several mining stocks – including CleanSpark, Iris Energy and Riot Platforms – were flat. Marathon Digital rose about 1%.

— Tanaya Macheel