South Korea Raises Interest Rates to 2.75% as Inflation and Weak Won Drive Tightening 
FxWirePro: Daily Commodity Tracker - 21st March, 2022 
Port of Los Angeles Posts Record June Cargo Volume as Importers Rush Ahead of U.S. Tariffs 
Japanese Yen Holds Steady as Intervention Hopes Grow Ahead of U.S. CPI Data 
Australian Business Conditions Hold Steady as Easing Cost Pressures Face New Oil Price Risks 
South Korea’s KOSPI Enters Bear Market Despite Remaining 2026’s Best-Performing Major Stock Index 
Gold Price Holds Near $4,000 as Middle East Tensions and Fed Rate Hike Bets Grow 
Dollar Slides as Softer US Inflation Dims Fed Rate Hike Expectations 
US Stock Futures Hold Steady as Soft Inflation Data Eases Fed Rate Hike Fears 
The UK gilts gained Tuesday ahead of the Bank of England Governor Mark Carney’s speech and the country’s manufacturing PMI for the month of January, scheduled to be disclosed today and February 1 by 15:30GMT and 09:30GMT respectively.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year gilts, slipped nearly 1 basis point to 1.44 percent, the super-long 30-year bond yields remained tad lower 1.89 percent and the yield on the short-term 2-year traded 1-1/2 basis points lower at 0.61 percent by 08:55GMT.
Brexit continues to dominate attention, with Buzzfeed having got its hands on an internal government study making clear to Ministers that the UK economy will be significantly worse off when outside the EU, regardless of the final deal struck on the future arrangements. In particular, the report suggests that the level of GDP in fifteen years’ time could be up to 8 percent lower than if the UK stayed in the EU under a no-deal scenario, 5 percent lower if Britain negotiated a free trade deal, and 2 percent lower even if the UK were to continue to adhere Norway-style to the rules of the single market.
While the Buzzfeed report means that Tory party and Brexit dysfunction will again dominate today, BoE Governor Carney will be testifying before the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee this afternoon. Before then, Bank of England lending figures will likely confirm a drop in the number of mortgages approved by banks for home purchase fell for the fourth consecutive month to the lowest in more than a year in December, Daiwa Capital Markets reported.
And after the BoE’s Q3 Credit Conditions Survey suggested that appetite for borrowing on unsecured loans and credit cards may be waning, today’s figures seem likely to translate into a further slowing of consumer credit too.
Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 traded 0.45 percent lower at 7,637.75 by 09:05 GMT, while at 09:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Pound Strength Index remained highly bearish at -137.81 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex
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