Morning wrap (03.02.2021)

• US indices finished yesterday's trading higher. S&P 500 gained 1.39%, Dow Jones added 1.57% and Nasdaq jumped 1.56%. Russell 2000 gained 1.19%

• Indices also gained during Asian trading hours. Nikkei and S&P/ASX 200 gained around 0.9% and Kospi added 1.1%

• DAX futures point to a higher opening of the European session

• A group of 15 US senators asked Biden to address shortages in semiconductor market that have negative impact on automotive sector

• US Treasury Secretary and US financial regulators will meet this week to discuss volatility in US small-cap stocks

• Speculations grow that former ECB President Draghi may be appointed new Italian PM

• New Zealand issued first preliminary approval for coronavirus vaccine (Pfizer)

• China's services PMI dropped from 56.3 to 52.0 in January (exp. 55.5)

• New Zealand's employment increased 0.6% QoQ in Q4 2020 (exp. 0% QoQ) while the unemployment rate dropped to 4.9% (exp. 5.6%)

• Australia's building approvals increased 10.9% MoM in December (exp. 2.5% MoM)

• API data 4.26 million barrel decline in oil inventories (exp. +0.4 mb)

• Bitcoin trades near $36,500

• Precious metals trade mixed. WTI trades near $55 per barrel

• NZD and AUD are top performing major currencies while CHF and GBP lag the most

• Amazon reported Q4 revenue at $125.56 billion (exp. $119.70 billion) and EPS at $14.09 (exp. $7.23). Jeff Bezos will step down as CEO and become executive chairman

• Alphabet reported Q4 revenue at $56.90 billion (exp. $53.13 billion) and adjusted EPS at $22.30 (exp. $15.90). Company reported 22% YoY increase in ad revenue

Around 450 thousand new coronavirus cases were reported yesterday. Source: worldometers, XTB