• Brent oil prices held near one-month highs on Thursday supported by China’s efforts to boost its economy, a drop in new coronavirus cases at the epicentre of the outbreak and supply concerns in Venezuela and Libya.
• Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 7 cents at $59.19 a barrel by 0939 GMT, after climbing to as high as $59.71 earlier in the day. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 climbed 17 cents to $53.46 per barrel.
• China’s move to cut its benchmark lending rate on Thursday also helped ease worries about slowing demand in the world’s second-biggest oil consumer and largest crude oil importer.
• The United States this week sanctioned a trading unit of Russian oil giant Rosneft for its ties with Venezuela’s state-run PDVSA, a move which could choke the OPEC member’s crude exports even further.
• At the same time, conflict in Libya that has led to a blockade of its ports and oilfields shows no signs of a resolution.

(Source: Reuters)

• For the first half of the financial year ending December 2019, Wisynco reported a net profit of $1.76Bn (EPS: $0.47), which represents a 13.8% (or $213.24Mn) increase over the $1.54Bn (EPS: $0.41) earned over the same period in the prior year.
• The outturn was primarily due to a 28.2% (or $3.76Bn) expansion of revenue to $17.10Bn, which management attributes to growth in all major product categories.
• Wisynco’s stock price has declined by 3.09% since the start of the year and currently trades at a P/E of 26.9x earnings which is above the main market manufacturing and distribution sector average of 18.2x earnings.

(Source: Wisynco’s Financials)

• The December 2019 Inflation survey indicated a general expectation that inflation 12 months ahead will increase to 5.1% relative to the previous survey outturn of 5.0%.
• The perception of inflation control increased in the December 2019 survey relative to the November 2019 survey.
• Respondents anticipate that the currency will depreciate over all three surveyed time horizons (3-month, 6-month, and 12-month horizons).
• The Present Business Conditions and Future Business Conditions Indices both reflected a higher level of optimism relative to the previous survey.

(Source: BOJ)

• The European Union on Tuesday put Panama back on its blacklist of tax havens after deciding the country had not done enough to meet global transparency standards.
• They join American Samoa, Fiji, Guam, Oman, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, the US Virgin Islands and Vanuatu on the list. The addition of the Cayman Islands represented the first time an overseas British territory was placed on the EU's blacklist.
• The European Union had removed Panama from its blacklist in 2018, shifting it to a halfway greylist after accepting the Central American's promises to comply with rules on sharing tax information in the wake of the 2016 "Panama Papers" revelations.

(Source: Bloomberg)

• Solid activity in the tourism and construction industries will drive a moderate pick-up in real GDP growth in Saint Kitts and Nevis (SKN) over the coming quarters.
• Fitch Solutions forecast real GDP growth of 2.9% y-o-y and 2.7% in 2020 and 2021, respectively, following an estimated expansion of 2.5% in 2019.
• The potential for slower than expected growth in the US poses downside risks to economic activity in SKN, given that it is the tourism industry’s largest source market.

(Source: Fitch)

• Oil prices rose on Wednesday, with Brent gaining for a seventh straight day, after a slowing of new coronavirus cases in China eased demand worries and supply was curtailed by a U.S. move to cut more Venezuelan crude from the market.
• Brent crude was up 73 cents, or 1.2%, to trade at $58.48 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 70 cents, or 1.3%, to trade at $52.75 a barrel.
• China, the world’s second-largest economy, has imposed city lock-downs and travel restrictions to contain a virus that has now killed more than 2,000 people, stoking concern over an economic slowdown and a hit to oil demand.
• Official data showed new cases in China fell for a second straight day, although the World Health Organization has cautioned there is not enough data to know if the epidemic is being contained.
• Brent has risen nearly 10% since falling last week to its lowest this year. The market structure is also showing signs of prompt demand for oil picking up, as the front-month Brent futures market is moving deeper back into backwardation, when near-term prices are higher than later-dated prices.

(Source: CNBC)

• At 2:40 a.m. ET, the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to price, was higher at around 1.5695%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also higher at around 2.0125%.
• The Treasury curve remained inverted on Wednesday, with yields on three-month bills trading above yields on 10-year notes for the second consecutive session.
• The move is seen by many as a recession signal. It comes as market participants continue to assess the potential economic impact of China’s fast-spreading coronavirus.

(Source: CNBC)

• The All Jamaica Consumer Price Index was 267.5 in January 2020, resulting in an inflation rate of -1.1%, according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) Bulletin – January 2020 released on February 17, 2020 by STATIN.
• The downward movement in January was mainly as a result of declines in the following divisions: ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ 1.4%, ‘Housing, Water, and Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’ 4.0% and ‘Transport ’0.7%.
• The movement for the heaviest weighted division, ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ was impacted significantly by lower prices for agricultural produce resulting in a decline of 4.9% in the class ‘Vegetables and Starchy Foods’. In the ‘Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’ division, lower rates for electricity resulted in the 9.1% decline for the group’ Electricity’, Gas and Other Fuels’.
• Inflation was however tempered by a 7.2% rise in water and sewage rates which increased the index for the group ‘Water Supply and Miscellaneous Services Related to the Dwelling. For the review period, the point-to-point inflation was 5.2% (within the BOJ’s target range of 4% to 6%) while the fiscal year-to-date was 4.3%.

(Source: STATIN)

• In the latest release of results from Fontana Limited, the company reported a 21.8% increase in unaudited net profit for the six-month period ending December 2019. The net profit rose from $213.04Mn (EPS: $0.17) at the end of December 2018 to $174.90Mn (EPS: $0.15) at the end of the current period. .
• The main factors contributing to the improvement in the bottom line were revenues, which moved up 21.0% ($401.95Mn) coupled with an increase in other income of 66.4% ($11.01Mn).
• The stock has declined 4.4% the start of the calendar year and closed at $6.71 on Monday. At this price, the stock currently trades at a P/E of 24.0x earnings which is above the Junior Market Distribution Sector average of 21.9x.

(Source: Fontana’s Financials

• Fitch solutions expect a modest economic recovery in Trinidad and Tobago in 2020, with real GDP growth of 0.4% y-o-y, following an estimated contraction of -0.1% in 2019, a fourth consecutive year of recession.
• Higher levels of public spending and minor gains in investment will pave the way for T&T's economic recovery. However, weak consumption levels and poor energy exports in light of declining production and subdued global energy prices will keep growth contained.

(Source: Fitch)