Daily summary: Hawkish Fed and potential new sanctions keep markets on the defensive

• EU plans to impose additional sanctions against Russia
• Hawkish Fed comments weigh on Wall Street
• US want to increase oil imports from Canada

Major European bourses finished today's session mostly lower, except for Spanish IBEX35 and  British FTSE100 as investors weighed the possibility of new sanctions against Russia. The EU announced plans to ease out coal imports from Russia, barring €9 million from the Russian economy, following mounting evidence of war crimes committed by its forces in Bucha and other areas from which Russian troops have recently left. EC Pres. von der Leyen also said the EU will work on new sanctions, including restrictions on oil imports. On the data front, Germany and the Eurozone, PMI readings came higher than preliminary estimates, whilst in Spain, the services PMI missed expectations. In France, polls showed that far-right candidate Le Pen is catching up with Macron ahead of the Presidential elections on April 10th. 

Downbeat moods prevail on Wall Street after Fed Brainard announced the central bank could start reducing its balance sheet even in May if inflation will remain too high. The Dow Jones trades slightly below the  flatline while the S&P 500 lost 0.6% and the Nasdaq plunged over 1.6%.  Also war concerns weighed on market sentiment. The US treasury froze the Russian government off its dollar reserves in US banks, disabling Moscow from paying $552 million in principal and $84 million in coupons of sovereign bonds. The payments were due to bond holders by April 4th, starting the 30-day grace period before a historic default. On the data front, Economic activity in the US services sector grew in March, however businesses continued to face higher costs as supply strains persisted. The economy is strong, but it is worth remembering that the manufacturing sector is the first to react to a potential slowdown. Considering the enormous costs of commodities, a slowdown in this sector cannot be ruled out. On the corporate front, Twitter stock extends yesterday's rally after reports that Elon Musk will join the company's board of directors.

The EURUSD pair is moving towards 1.0900 level as investors expect a strong tightening from the Fed, which in turn has a negative impact on precious metals. During today's session, the price of gold fell to $ 1920, while silver dropped to $ 24.35. Oil is trading flat, but it is worth remembering that the price rebounded sharply on Monday in response to the rise in export prices by Saudi Arabia. Crude oil may have reacted to White House comments which intend to increase oil imports from Canada. This is theoretically negative news for oil, but very positive for the CAD. It is worth remembering, however, that until the Keystone pipeline project is reactivated, the impact of increased Canadian oil imports may be limited.

Wheat gained today due to ongoing uncertainty regarding the situation in Ukraine as Russian soldiers destroyed six grain silos. In addition, the drought has reduced the quality of winter wheat crops in the US to the lowest level in 10 years. The price of wheat has returned to above 1,000 cents a bushel.

DOGECOIN - bulls managed to push the price above upper limit of the descending channel in the second half of March and since then mem coin was heading towards key resistance at $0.1600 which coincides with 78.6% Fibonacci retracement of the upward wave launched in January 2021. During today’s session price smashed with ease through this level and if current sentiment prevails, upward move may accelerate towards the major resistance zone between $0.1855 and $0.20 which is marked with upper limit of the 1:1 structure, 200 SMA (red line ) and previous price reactions. Source: xStation5