OIL: Saudi Aramco Cuts OSP For April By $0.4/bbl, More Than Expected

• MNI: GERMANY FINAL JAN SRVCS PMI 52.5 (FLASH: 52.5); DEC 51.2

BBG sources suggest that “China’s antitrust watchdog is laying the groundwork for a potential probe into Apple Inc.’s policies and the fees it charges app developers, part of a broader push by Beijing that risks becoming another flashpoint in the country’s trade war with the U.S.”

• While this isn’t a particular surprise given similar probes into tech names by the EU, the market reaction highlights increased sensitivity to headlines centred on trade and Sino-U.S. relations during the early stages of Trump’s second Presidential term.
• NASDAQ e-mini futures trade to fresh session lows, last -0.91%, while the S&P 500 contract briefly pierced its own session low.
• Fresh demand for core global bonds also apparent on the news.

The Italian January services PMI was in line with consensus at 50.4 (vs 50.7 prior). With the manufacturing PMI only a little below consensus on Monday, the composite reading was steady at 49.7 (the third consecutive month in contractionary territory).

• As in Spain, there was evidence of Italian services firms passing on increases in input costs to output charges in January,

Key notes from the release:

• “While some panellists linked the rise in output to new clients, others were reportedly challenged by adverse economic conditions”.
• “A sustained drop in new business volumes, which fell for the third month in a row”… “firms noted a demand slowdown and raised customer uncertainty”.
• “Weighing down on total new orders was a solid drop international sales in January”
• “Services firms in Italy opted to lower their staffing numbers in January”.
• “Wages remained the main source of cost pressure in January” “….”Though there were also mentions of raised raw material prices and higher services fees”.
• “There was a pick-up in charge inflation to its strongest for nine months, as firms looked to pass raised cost burdens to clients”.