Morning wrap (03.08.2021)

• US indices finished yesterday's trading lower. S&P 500 dropped 0.19%, Dow Jones moved 0.28% lower and Russell 2000 closed 0.48% lower. Nasdaq gained 0.06%

• Stocks in Asia traded mostly lower as well. Nikkei dropped 0.6%, S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.4% and indices from China traded 0.3-0.6% lower. Kospi gained 0.3%

• DAX futures point to a more or less flat opening of the European session

• Reserve Bank of Australia delivered a hawkish surprise today. RBA was expected to delay its plans for QE taper due to the virus outbreak but instead left them unchanged. AUD rallied and is the best performing major currency

• United States asked 24 Russian diplomats whose visas are exprining to leave US

• According to RBNZ Deputy Governor Bascand, RBNZ is exploring ways to tighten mortgage lending standards

• Fed Waller said he expects Federal Reserve to announce QE taper in September or October

• Chinese gaming stocks slumped today after state media released critical report comparing video games to opium

• Australian building approvals dropped 6.7% MoM in June (exp. -4.5% MoM)

• Bitcoin trades near $38,000 mark

• Precious metals drop with silver dropping 0.9%. Oil and industrial metals move lower as well

• AUD and NZD are top performing majors while CAD and USD lag the most

AUDUSD bounced off the 0.7340 support zone. The near-term level to watch for the pair is marked with the upper limit of local market geometry at 0.74250. Key resistance is marked with the upper limit of the large Overbalance structure as well as 50% retracement in 0.7650 area. Source: xStation5