The news shaping the markets today

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said China is considering providing weapons and ammunition to Russia in the ongoing war with Ukraine. The safe-haven US dollar index rose this morning.

The People’s Bank of China held its key lending rates for the sixth consecutive month, exerting slight pressure on the CNY/USD forex pair.

Indonesia’s current account surplus widened to $4.27 billion in the fourth quarter, from $1.51 billion in the year-ago quarter, sending the IDR/USD pair higher in forex trading this morning.

Canada’s industrial producer prices increased by 0.4% in January, versus a 0.9% decline in the earlier month, exerting pressure on the CAD/USD forex pair.

France’s annual inflation rate accelerated to 6% in January, from 5.9% in December, sending the EUR/USD pair lower in forex trading this morning.

What’s happening: Shares of DoorDash fell on Friday, after the company released results for its fourth quarter.

What happened: With consumers spending more on food and household necessities, the top US food delivery company managed to record higher revenues despite a rise in prices.

DoorDash reported a wider quarterly loss and announced a major management change.

How were the results: The company reported a sharp increase in sales for the three months through December, exceeding market views.

• Revenues surged 40% year-over-year to $1.81 billion, exceeding the consensus estimates of $1.77 billion.
• Net loss widened to $642 million, or $1.65 per share, from a year-ago loss of $155 million, or 45 cents per share. The figure was also higher than Wall Street expectations of 68 cents per share.

Why it matters: Cost conscious consumers in the US have continued their pandemic habits of ordering discounted food online rather than going to restaurants, amid concerns over a slowdown in economy. This trend provided a boost to companies like DoorDash and Uber Technologies.

DoorDash’s total orders grew 27% from the earlier year to 467 million in the latest quarter. The company guided to gross order value of $60-$63 billion for 2023, versus $53.4 billion recorded last year.

The company had acquired Finnish food-delivery startup Wolt in 2021, with the aim of growing its global footprint. Orders at Wolt climbed 50% in the fourth quarter.

In late November, the company had announced plans to reduce around 1,250 jobs, or 6% of its overall workforce, to control costs.

The company ended last year with a record 32 million monthly users. Its subscription service, DashPass, had over 15 million members, compared to 10 million in the year-ago quarter.

Management guided to adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $120-$170 million for the current quarter. DoorDash expected its adjusted EBITDA to almost double to $500-$800 million in the full year.

DoorDash said its President would step down on March 1, as part of a management change, and would be replaced by CFO Prabir Adarkar. DoorDash also said that the Vice President of Finance and Strategy Ravi Inukonda would take over as CFO.

How shares responded: DoorDash’s shares fell 7.6% to close at $61.81 on Friday, following the release of quarterly results. The stock has added around 12% over the past month.

What to watch: Investors will keep an eye on rising inflation in the country, which could impact the company’s overall growth. Markets will also monitor the effects of the management change at the company.

The markets today

Bitcoin will be in focus today after moving higher last week

Context: Bitcoin recorded sharp gains last week, surging past the $25,000 mark.

Details: The world’s largest cryptocurrency staged a rally last week, in contrast to the broader equity markets, which came under pressure due to concerns around the monetary policy of major central banks, especially the Federal Reserve.

Bitcoin jumped past the $25,000 mark on Thursday to hit a multi-month high. With improved risk appetite, investors shrugged off concerns around higher-than-projected data for US consumer and producer prices.

US producer prices for final demand accelerated 0.7% in January, the most in seven months, and exceeded the market estimates of 0.4%. Consumer prices rose 0.5% in January, the most in three months. However, annual inflation declined to 6.4% in January, from 6.5% a month ago.

Bitcoin pared some gains on Friday, as traders digested news of Binance exiting ties with certain US companies.

With cryptos continuing to outperform equity markets, Ethereum also climbed around 12% last week.

What are expectations: Traders will keep an eye on inflation levels in the US. Markets will also continue monitoring comments from Fed officials.

Other Markets: European indices closed lower on Friday, with the FTSE 100, DAX 40, CAC 40 and STOXX Europe 600 index down by 0.10%, 0.33%, 0.25% and 0.20%, respectively.

Support & resistances for today

Market snapshot

What else to watch today

Turkey’s consumer confidence index and government debt, Eurozone’s construction output and consumer confidence indicator, China’s foreign direct investment, Russia’s monetary policy report, as well as Central Bank of Brazil’s focus market readout.

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