Morning wrap (12.04.2021)

• Stocks in Asia are trading lower at the beginning of a new week. Nikkei drops 0.6%, S&P/ASX 200 trades 0.3% lower and indices from China decline. Kospi trades flat

• DAX futures point to a slightly lower opening of the European session

• Fed Chair Powell said that economic activity is expected to pick-up faster as job creation remains strong. However, he said that virus remains the main concern and resurgence in case may hamper recover

• Reuters reported that European Union and United Kingdom are getting closer on trading agreement for Northern Ireland

• A major blackout occured at one of the main nuclear sites in Iran. Domestic authorities said it was a terrorist act

• Study conducted in Israel found that the Pfizier vaccine may not stop the South African coronavirus variant. Study has not been peer reviewed yet however

• South Korean exports increased 24.8% YoY in the first 10 days of April

• Precious metals, industrial metals and oil trade lower. Agricultural goods trade mixed 

• Bitcoin tested $61,000 mark over the weekend but has pulled back below $60,000 since

• USD and JPY are the best performing major currencies while CAD and AUD lag the most

Chinese CHNComp is testing support zone at 10,800. The index has been trading in a downward trend for some time and has clearly underperformed US and European equities. Source: xStation5