97% of Companies Say "Economic Crisis Coming This Year" [3-Minute Brief]

[At a Glance]
① Economic instability due to global order reshuffling... Corporate sentiment also declines
② February foreign exchange reserves hit lowest in 4 years and 9 months
③ Inflation remains in the 2% range for two consecutive months... Upward trend continues

MARKET INDEX : Year to date

○ US New York Stock Exchange's three major indices all closed lower

○ 'Hit and soothe' market anxiety spreads

○ Besent: "This is the US-first trade policy"

Top3 NEWS

■ "An economic crisis comparable to the IMF will hit Korea this year"... 97% of companies responded

○ Korea Employers Federation added economic crisis question to corporate regulation survey
○ Responses indicating 'worsening regulatory environment' doubled in one year
○ "Judging the domestic and international situation as severe"

■ National Pension Fund's currency hedging leads to lowest foreign exchange reserves in 4 years and 9 months as of February

○ Korea's foreign exchange reserves at end of February: $409.21 billion... down $1.8 billion
○ Lowest since May 2020's $407.31 billion in 4 years and 9 months
○ Impact of National Pension Fund's foreign exchange swaps and measures to ease foreign exchange market volatility

■ Inflation in the 2% range for two consecutive months... rate of increase slows

○ Petroleum products rose 6.3%... influenced by sharp exchange rate rise
○ Processed foods up 2.9%... highest in 13 months
○ Food delivery app and raw material cost burdens push dining-out prices up 3.0%

Graphic News : "Due to rapid execution, even sound budgets are cut"... Local governments using loopholes

○ Budgets difficult to execute are cut through supplementary budgets

○ One-time injection of one year's disability benefits

○ "Only focused on meeting numbers, should be limited"

the Chart : SK Hynix's net profit growth surpasses Alphabet and Toyota, ranking in global top 5

○ Increased by $6.7 billion in Q4 last year

○ Jumped from 38th to 5th in growth ranking

○ 1st place is Amazon with $9.3 billion increase

Today's Key Schedule

○Domestic

6th: MD Device KOSDAQ listing, confirmed public offering price 8,350 KRW

6th: Hantech KOSDAQ subscription, confirmed public offering price 10,800 KRW

○Overseas

00:15: Speech by Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank

03:00: US Atlanta Federal Reserve's GDPNow (Q1)

06:30: US Federal Reserve balance sheet

09:00: Speech by Raphael Bostic, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

16:00: Germany factory orders (MoM) (January)

19:00: Europe GDP (YoY), (QoQ) (Q4)

22:30: US average hourly earnings (MoM) (February), unemployment rate (February)

◇ Lunch & Commute Weather

○ Low temperature -1℃(0℃) ｜High temperature: 9℃(▲8℃)
○ Precipitation probability: morning 0%｜afternoon 20%
○ Fine dust: morning moderate｜afternoon moderate

3 minutes is OK, essential time-efficient economic news. Published daily at 8 AM.