Real-time News

Kremlin: Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold talks with the Hungarian Foreign Minister in Moscow later on Wednesday.

On March 4th, Israeli Defense Forces spokesman Effie Defferin stated at a press conference that the Israeli Air Force launched a series of airstrikes against Iranian military targets in Isfahan and Shiraz from the evening of March 3rd to the early morning of March 4th. Defferin stated that this was the first time the Israeli military had launched attacks in these two regions during its current military operations against Iran. Defferin indicated that the strikes successfully hit more than 20 targets, including two Iranian facilities in Isfahan storing Qader missiles. Defferin also stated that other targets hit included ballistic and cruise missile storage facilities and air defense systems. Defferin stated that preliminary estimates indicate the strikes destroyed dozens of ballistic and cruise missiles.

The London Stock Exchange Group has partnered with the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) to upgrade its derivatives market trading platform.

According to Iranian state television, a member of the Iranian Council of Experts responsible for electing a new Supreme Leader said that we are close to making a decision.

On March 4th, according to Tianyancha's business registration information, Zhejiang Pony.ai Technology Co., Ltd. was recently established. The legal representative is Wang Haojun, with a registered capital of US$50 million. Its business scope includes software outsourcing services, software development, information technology consulting services, computer system services, sales of communication equipment, sales of artificial intelligence hardware, sales of electronic products, and sales of new energy vehicles. Shareholder information shows that the company is wholly owned by Hong Kong Pony.ai Limited.

The Israeli military stated that the Israeli Air Force conducted multiple airstrikes overnight against Iranian military assets in the Isfahan and Shiraz regions.

On March 4th, Chris Turner of ING stated that the euro is particularly vulnerable to rising energy prices caused by the US-Iran conflict due to investor positioning. He pointed out that there are currently many long positions in the euro, especially among asset management companies. As these positions are reduced, coupled with market concerns about the impact of rising energy prices on the eurozone's terms of trade, the euro exchange rate has been hit. Turner believes that changes in the terms of trade will be a more central theme, and the duration of this energy shock will determine whether the euro falls to the 1.10–1.12 range or finds support around 1.15.

March 4th - Citigroup equity strategist David Groman stated that in the European market, the aerospace and defense sector accounts for the largest share of total sales in the Middle East, slightly less than 7%. Luxury goods and chemicals rank second and third, respectively, accounting for over 6% of total sales. Real estate, utilities, metals and mining, and IT sectors are least affected, generating less than 1% of total revenue in the region.

March 4th - The Fourth Session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) opened on March 4th. Zhang Yi, a CPPCC member and president of the Shanghai New Social Stratum Association, revealed that he will primarily focus on two key words at this year's Two Sessions: consumption and scientific and technological innovation. In the consumption sector, functional consumer products and services have already largely satisfied people's needs. Therefore, he is more concerned with how to satisfy people's emotional needs and sense of well-being, and how to make the "happiness economy" a new driving force for economic growth. Regarding scientific and technological innovation, Zhang Yi believes that we should adhere to investing early, on a small scale, in the long term, and in hard technologies to promote the common development of the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain. At the same time, we should encourage the development of pilot-scale platforms so that scientists' research results can be tested and verified on a small scale before being brought to the market.

Moderna (MRNA.O) shares rose 3.7% in pre-market trading after the company agreed to pay up to $2.25 billion to settle a patent dispute over its COVID-19 vaccine.

Fitch: (Indonesia) Medium-term fiscal outlook may weaken, dampening investor sentiment.

On March 4th, Dr. Cyrus de la Rubia, Chief Economist at Commerzbank Hamburg, commented on the Eurozone PMI data, stating: "The services sector didn't perform particularly well in February, but growth momentum did strengthen slightly compared to the previous month. Other encouraging signs included slightly stronger new business growth and optimism about future business activity. However, overall growth remains weak, reflected in the fact that hiring has essentially stalled over the past two months. For the ECB, these figures undoubtedly provide another reason why it is unlikely to plan further interest rate cuts in the near future. Costs in the services sector rose rapidly again in February, with wage increases and rising energy and transportation costs cited as the main reasons. From the ECB's perspective, the decline in price inflationary pressures is a positive development, but a clear trend has not yet emerged in recent months."

According to the German Engineering Federation (VDEF), German machinery orders fell by 2% year-on-year between November and January, with domestic orders down 4% and foreign orders down 1%.

Italy's unemployment rate in January was 5.1%, below the expected 5.60% and the previous figure revised from 5.60% to 5.5%.

The final reading of the Eurozone Composite PMI for February was 51.9, in line with expectations and unchanged from the previous reading.

Fitch: The downgrade of Indonesia's outlook reflects increased policy uncertainty and erosion of the consistency and credibility of the policy mix.

Germany's final composite PMI for February was 53.2, below the expected 53.1 and the previous reading of 53.1.