Morning wrap (14.02.2023)

• US indices finished yesterday's trading higher. S&P 500 rose 1.14%, Dow Jones moved 1.11% higher and Nasdaq jumped 1.48%. Russell 2000 advanced 1.16%

• Indices from Asia-Pacific traded mostly higher today. Nikkei traded 0.69% higher, S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.20%, Nifty 50 and Kospi both added 0.50%. Indices from China traded mostly lower

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

• Fed's vice Chair Brainard will most likely became President Biden top economic adviser

• Analysts at ANZ in Australia have revised their Fed funds rate forecast range by 50bp to 5.25-5.50%, citing strong US economy

• US to sell another 26 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve

• According to some unconfirmed speculation US Secretary of State Blinken and China Foreign Minister, Wang Yi may meet later this week

• Guangdong Province in China, which is the largest economy compared with any other province, expects 6.0% GDP growth this year, according to local authorities

• BlackRock cut Japan stocks to “underweight” citing concern over a BOJ policy change

• The Japanese economy grew by 0.2% QoQ in Q4, reversing from a revised 0.3% contraction in Q3 but falling short of market expectations of a 0.5% rise, preliminary data showed. 

• Industrial production in Japan increased by 0.3% MoM in December, compared with the flash data of a -0.1%

• Major cryptocurrencies trade slightly higher. Bitcoin rose slightly to $21700 mark, while Ethereum oscillates around resistance at $1500

• Mixed moods prevail on energy commodities markets. Brent and WTI fell 0.40 and 0.9% respectively, while NATGAS rose over 1.0%

• Precious metals trade mixed. Gold is trading around $1860 and silver attempts to break above the $22.00 hurdle. 

• JPY and CHF are the best performing major currencies while CAD and NZD lag the most

US2000 approaches crucial resistance around 1960 pts ahead of highly anticipated US CPI data. Source: xStation5