Morning wrap (17.04.2023)

• Indices from Wall Street finished Friday's trading lower after Fed Waller noted that progress on inflation has been slow so far and that Fed may have to go with more than one hike before the end of the cycle

• However, downbeat moods did not extend into a new week. Indices from Asia-Pacific are trading mostly higher today - Nikkei gains 0.1%, S&P/ASX 200 and Kospi add 0.2% while Nifty 50 trades 1% lower. Indices from China traded up to 1.2% higher

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

• Chinese Defence Minister said during his visit to Russia that China aims to have close communication and to strengthen multilateral coordination with Russian military

• BoJ Governor Ueda said that while inflation situation in Japan is different that in other parts of the world, all options will be discussed at each policy meeting

• US Treasury Secretary said that tightening in credit standards following banking turmoil could be a substitute for further Fed rate hikes

• ECB President Lagarde said that path to global economic recovery is narrow but refrained from hinting whether she supports 25 or 50 basis point rate hike in May

• Cryptocurrencies are trading mostly lower - Bitcoin drops 1.4%, Ethereum and Ripple trade 1.5% lower while Dogecoin slumps 2%

• Energy commodities trade mixed - oil drops 0.2% while US natural gas prices climb around 2.5%

• Precious metals trade mixed - gold gains 0.1% while silver and platinum drop 0.1%

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

EURUSD lost some ground on Friday after hawkish comments from Fed's Waller. While new week was also launched with a move lower, bulls managed to regain ground and are now trying to push the pair back above 1.10 mark. Source: xStation5