Morning wrap (09.01.2023)

• US indices rallied on Friday following a solid NFP report - jobs data for December showed better-than-expected employment gain and slower-than-expected wage growth. Dow Jones, S&P 500, Nasdaq and Russell 2000 all gained more than 2%

• Upbeat moods extended into a new week with indices from Asia-Pacific trading higher as well. S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.6%, Kospi rallied 2.6% and Nifty 50 added 1.5%. Indices from China traded up to 2% higher

• A number of positive news from China has also provided support for Asian shares today. Reuters reported that financing for property sector increased 33% YoY in December 2022. Also Chinese authorities said they expected traffic during Spring Festival to double from 2022 levels, to over 2 billion passengers 

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

• Civil unrest broke out in Brazil with supporters of former President Bolsonaro breaking into the Supreme Court building, Congress and Presidential Palace. Riots were condemned by President Lula, former President Bolsonaro and leaders of democratic countries, including Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron 

• MV Glory cargo vessel has run aground in Suez Canal this morning but so far it is unclear whether and to what extent traffic is disrupted. Canal authorities' vessel are trying to refloat it

• People's Bank of China purchased 30 tonnes of gold in December 2022, putting China's official gold reserves to 2,010 tonnes

• A fault in Iranian pipeline network led to a 70% drop in natural gas exports to Turkey

• Australian building approvals dropped 9% MoM in November (exp. -1% MoM)

• Cryptocurrencies are trading higher amid overall improvement in risk moods. Bitcoin gains 1.4%, Ethereum trades 3.1% higher and Litecoin jumps 7.7%. Cardano rallies over 12%

• Energy commodities trade higher on expectations for increase in Chinese demand - US natural gas prices gain 2.4% while oil trades 1.5% higher

• Precious metals benefit from USD weakness. Gold trades 0.6% higher, silver gains 0.8% and palladium jumps 1.2%. Platinum trades 0.1% higher

• AUD and NZD are the best performing major currencies while safe havens - USD, JPY and CHF - are top laggards

S&P 500 futures (US500) are making a break above the 3,920 pts resistance zone, that marks the upper limit of a recent short-term trading range. Index trades at the highest level since mid-December 2022. Source: xStation5