A letter seen by Reuters unveiled that salesmen from India have threatened to disrupt & derange supplies to stores which are partnered with the renowned Reliance giant. As per the Reuters report, Indian salesmen from companies such as Reckitt Benckiser, Uniliever and Colgate-Palmolive stated that their sales declined 20-25% in the last year as small, family-owned and independent businesses were increasingly in partnership with Reliance to provide lower prices, dominating the market.

MACROECONOMIC DATA ANALYSIS

On Saturday, Pakistan received a $3 billion loan from Saudi Arabia, as revealed by Pakistan’s prime minister finance adviser, Shaukat Tarin. The support is part of an economic stimulus package, aimed at assisting Pakistan in overcoming growing economic challenges, high inflation difficulties, a depreciating currency, among other issues facing the nation.

According to Australia’s Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, Australia shall raise its growth forecast for the coming 2022 year, noting that it remains too early to predict the estimate the potential impact of the newly discovered Omicron COVID-19 variant on the economic outlook. The nation is recovering quickly from the pandemic, setting world-beating vaccination rates.

CURRENCIES

The U.S. dollar remains stable on a positive note, as investor worries regarding the Omicron coronavirus variant seems to have diminished. The greenback remained solid despite the latest U.S. jobs report encapsulating the non-farm payrolls, showing that the actual payrolls were 210,000 against the 550,000 expected. The dollar index, compared to a basket of six other currencies, edged 0.01% higher to 96.172.

GOLD

Gold futures jumped sharply on Friday, after disappointing monthly jobs data, which hasn’t necessarily impacted the dollar greenback substantially, but has given investors & traders increased worries over the current global economic situation. This has pushed the bullion upwards by 0.81% to value at $1,783 per ounce.

OIL

Crude oil prices were mixed on Friday, but have posted a sixth straight weekly loss, despite the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) signaling that it is prepared to decrease oil production at any time when Omicron-driven fears continue to hurt the demand for energy. Brent futures edged 0.34% higher to $69.91 a barrel, while WTI futures slumped 0.35% to $66.27 per barrel.

INDICES

USA: S&P500 -0.84%, Dow Jones Industrial Average -0.17%, Nasdaq Composite -1.74%

Europe: FTSE 100 -0.10%, DAX -0.61%, CAC 40 -0.44%

Asia: Nikkei 225 +1.00%, Hang Seng -0.09%, CSI 300 +0.92%, Nifty 50 +1.18%