China Factory Activity Slips in January as Weak Demand Weighs on Growth Outlook 
South Korea Exports Surge in January on AI Chip Demand, Marking Fastest Growth in 4.5 Years 
Indonesian Stocks Plunge as MSCI Downgrade Risk Sparks Investor Exodus 
Asian Currencies Hold Firm as Dollar Rebounds on Fed Chair Nomination Hopes 
Gold and Silver Prices Plunge as Trump Taps Kevin Warsh for Fed Chair 
Canada’s Trade Deficit Jumps in November as Exports Slide and Firms Diversify Away From U.S. 
U.S.–Venezuela Relations Show Signs of Thaw as Top Envoy Visits Caracas 
U.S. Dollar Slides for Second Week as Tariff Threats and Iran Tensions Shake Markets 
Asian Stocks Waver as Trump Signals Fed Pick, Shutdown Deal and Tech Earnings Stir Markets 
Trump to Announce New Federal Reserve Chair Pick as Powell Replacement Looms 
The U.S. Treasuries plunged during Thursday’s afternoon session ahead of the country’s weekly initial jobless claims and super-long 30-year auction, both scheduled for today at 13:30GMT and 18:00GMT.
Also, Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) member Kaplan is due to deliver his speech today at 18:05GMT, for further direction into the debt market.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield jumped 5 basis points to 1.862 percent, the super-long 30-year bond yield surged 5-1/2 basis points to 2.353 percent and the yield on the short-term 2-year traded nearly 3-1/2 basis points higher at 1.639 percent by 11:55GMT.
While US equities moved broadly sideways yesterday, Asian markets on the whole had a slightly better day despite earlier reports suggesting that the signing of the preliminary US-China trade agreement might well be pushed back into December, with China’s main CSI 300 closed 0.2 percent on the day, Daiwa Capital Markets reported.
And the subsequent reports suggesting that China and US had agreed to gradually roll back tariffs should provide a further boost when markets reopen tomorrow, the report added.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Futures remained tad 0.45 percent up at 3,089.38 by 12:00GMT.
