Wall Street Ends Mixed as Dow Hits Record Despite Tech Weakness 
Gold Price Hits Seven-Week High as Fed Rate Hike Bets Fade and Hormuz Deal Hopes Grow 
Asian Stocks Cautious Ahead of US Jobs Data as Oil Rises 
BOJ Rate Hike Expectations Rise Ahead of September Meeting 
Oil Prices Set for Steep Weekly Losses as Hormuz Deal Stalls 
Brazil Cuts Selic Rate to 14% as Inflation Eases but Risks Persist 
Singapore Says One-Third of U.S. Exports Hit by New 12.5% Tariff 
Gold Prices Surge 7% as Dollar Falls, Fed Rate Hike Bets Ease 
The Australian bonds remained flat during Asian session of the last trading day of the week Friday amid a muted trading session that witnessed data of little economic significance amid rise in China’s death tolls from the Coronavirus.
The yield on Australia’s benchmark 10-year note, which moves inversely to its price, hovered around 1.049 percent, the yield on the long-term 30-year bond traded flat at 1.654 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year also remained steady at 0.752 percent by 05:10GMT.
Reciprocity came in terms of a return Valentine’s Day present with China’s announcement to halve tariffs on $75 billion of US goods from February 14, the same day that the US will halve the tariffs on $120 billion of Chinese imports, OCBC Treasury Research reported.
This gesture may help to illustrate China’s sincerity to meet its obligations under the Phase 1 trade deal. That said, China’s death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 636, whilst CNOOC has declared force majeure on some LNG contracts, suggesting that the coronavirus was beginning to impact business operations, the report added.
Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 index traded tad -0.49 percent lower at 6,949.50 by 05:15GMT.
