Highlights
Mexico said it is willing to raise tariffs on Chinese goods and buy more from the U.S. to avoid President Trump's 25% tariff, Bloomberg reported late Friday.
Canada and Mexico are feeding Trump evidence of their progress in curbing the flow of fentanyl opioids into the U.S. ahead of the midnight Monday deadline for 25% tariffs on their non-energy imports. Crude oil from Canada is facing a 10% tariff on its 4,000+ barrels per day to the U.S.
Friday’s financial news included U.S. consumer spending fell for the first time in two years in January.
The core personal consumption expenditures price index, which measures costs consumers pay across a wide range of items, excluding food and energy, rose 2.6% year over year and 0.3% month over month. The annualized rate is down from 2.9% in December. The Fed’s target is 2% annual inflation.
Saturday morning, China reported its official Manufacturing PMI had a big jump to 50.2 in February from 49.1 in January; the market expected 49.9. Various stimulus measures from Beijing bolstered the recovery of the economy.