Gold Futures Rise Sharply As Dollar, Bond Yields Drop

Gold prices climbed to a six-week high on Monday as the dollar fell and bond yields dropped following the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank.

The sell-off in equities and rising concerns over the fallout of the collapse of SVB pushed up the demand for the safe-haven yellow metal.

The U.S. Treasury, Federal Reserve, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said they would “fully protect” depositors, including those with assets above the federally guaranteed $250,000 limit, but traders still went on a selling spree.

The dollar index plunged to 103.48, losing about 1.05%.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note dropped to around 3.47%.

Gold futures for April surged $49.30 to $1,916.50 an ounce.

Silver futures for May climbed to $21.848 an ounce, gaining $1.4170, while Copper futures for May advanced $4.0535 per pound, up $0.0230 from the previous close.

The spotlight is firmly on Tuesday’s U.S. inflation data and Thursday’s ECB meeting. The central bank is all set to raise interest rates by another 50 basis points at the meeting.

The Federal Reserve’s policy meeting is scheduled to be held on March 21-11, while the Bank of England meets a day after the FOMC meeting on March 23.

Goldman Sachs analysts said they no longer expect the Federal Reserve to raise rates by 25 basis points at its next policy meeting on March 21-22.

Oil Futures Settle Sharply Lower As SVB Collapse Hurts Sentiment

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Monday amid rising worries over a U.S. banking debacle following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

Although the Biden administration has assured that there won’t be a relapse of the financial crisis from 15 years ago, the mood in global stock markets remained quite bearish today.

The U.S. Treasury, Federal Reserve, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said they would “fully protect” depositors, including those with assets above the federally guaranteed $250,000 limit.

Hopes about a pick-up in energy demand in China helped a bit in limiting the downside in oil prices.

West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures settled with a loss of $1.88 or about 2.4% at $74.80 a barrel, about 2% up from the day’s close of $72.33 a barrel.

Brent crude futures were down $2.40 or 2.88% at $80.38 a barrel a little while ago.

The focus is on Tuesday’s U.S. inflation data and Thursday’s ECB meeting. The central bank is all set to raise interest rates by another 50 basis points at the meeting.

The Federal Reserve’s policy meeting is scheduled to be held on March 21-11, while the Bank of England meets a day after the FOMC meeting on March 23.

Goldman Sachs analysts said they no longer expect the Federal Reserve to raise rates by 25 basis points at its next policy meeting on March 21-22.

Gitlab Inc. Q4 Loss Decreases, beats estimates

Gitlab Inc. (GTLB) released Loss for fourth quarter that decreased from the same period last year but missed the Street estimates.

The company’s bottom line came in at -$38.7 million, or -$0.26 per share. This compares with -$45.8 million, or -$0.32 per share, in last year’s fourth quarter.

Excluding items, Gitlab Inc. reported adjusted earnings of -$4.5 million or -$0.03 per share for the period.

Analysts on average had expected the company to earn -$0.14 per share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

The company’s revenue for the quarter rose 58.0% to $122.9 million from $77.8 million last year.

Gitlab Inc. earnings at a glance (GAAP) :

-Earnings (Q4): -$38.7 Mln. vs. -$45.8 Mln. last year.
-EPS (Q4): -$0.26 vs. -$0.32 last year.
-Analyst Estimates: -$0.14
-Revenue (Q4): $122.9 Mln vs. $77.8 Mln last year.

-Guidance:
Next quarter EPS guidance: -$0.15 to -$0.14
Next quarter revenue guidance: $117-$118 mln

Chile confirms first bird flu outbreak in poultry, halts chicken exports

SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Chilean authorities on Monday confirmed the South American country’s first outbreak of avian flu in poultry, causing it to suspend chicken exports from the country.

Fraport AG FY12 Profit Rises; Adj. Revenue Up 50.6%

Fraport AG (FRA.DE,0O1R.L,FPRUF.PK) reported that its fiscal 2022 net profit improved significantly by 81.5 percent to 166.6 million euros from 91.8 million euros, prior year, despite the negative one-off effect from the complete write-off of the investment in Russia. Basic earnings per share was 1.43 euros compared to 0.90 euros. Group EBITDA rose by 36.0 percent year-on-year to 1.03 billion euros.

Fiscal 2022 Group revenue increased by 49.0 percent to 3.19 billion euros. Adjusting for revenues resulting from construction and expansion measures at Fraport’s subsidiaries worldwide, revenue increased by 50.6 percent to 2.86 billion euros.

During 2022, some 48.9 million passengers traveled via Frankfurt, an increase of 97.2 percent year-on-year. The Group noted that still this figure is 30.7 percent down compared to pre-crisis 2019.

For fiscal 2023, Fraport’s executive board expects passenger traffic at Frankfurt Airport to reach between at least 80 percent and up to about 90 percent of the level seen in pre-crisis year 2019. This would correspond to a total of some 57 million to 63 million passengers for the year.

For 2023, EBITDA is projected to reach between approximately 1.04 billion and 1.20 billion euros. Net profit is forecast to be in a range of between around 300 million euros and 420 million euros.

The Fraport executive board will propose, as in 2022, not to distribute a dividend for fiscal 2023.

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