Morning wrap (26.01.2023)

• US indices finished yesterday's trading mixed but, overall, scale of moves was small. S&P 500 dropped 0.02%, Dow Jones gained 0.03%, Nasdaq moved 0.18% lower and Russell 2000 jumped 0.25%

• Indices from Asia-Pacific traded mixed today. Nikkei dropped 0.2% while Kospi gained 1.5%. Hang Seng traded 2.5% higher during the first session after a 5-day weekend

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

• Fed Vice Chair Brainard is seens as a potential candidate to lead White House's National Economic Council

• ECB Nagel said that interest rates need to rise further, ECB Makhlouf said that tightening needs to be continued at a meeting next week while ECB Vasle said that 50 bp rate hikes at two next meetings seem appropriate

• S&P Global expects the US economy to face recession in Q1 and Q2 2023. Global growth in 2023 is seen at 1.9%, followed by 3% in 2024 and 2025

• Goldman Sachs does not expect US recession and said that debt ceiling crisis is a key risk for now

• UK car production dropped 9.8% in full-2022, to 775 thousand vehicles. This was 40.8% below pre-pandemic 2019 production and the lowest reading since 1956

• South Korean GDP dropped 0.4% QoQ in Q4 2022 (exp. -0.3% QoQ). On a year-over-year basis Q4 growth reached 1.4% YoY (exp. 1.5% YoY) 

• Tesla traded 5% higher in the after-hours trading following release of Q4 2022 earnings report. Revenue reached a record $24.32 billion (exp. $24.16 billion) while EPS reached $1.19 (exp. $1.13). Elon Musk said that Tela may be able to produce around 2 million vehicles in 2023

• IBM traded 2% lower in the after-hours trading following Q4 earnings release. Company managed to hold its revenue more or less flat YoY at $16.69 billion (exp. $16.4 billion) and avoided expected revenue drop. EPS at $3.60 matched estimates. IBM said that it will cut almost 4 thousand jobs, or 1.5% of its total workforce

• Cryptocurrencies trade higher with Bitcoin gaining 0.6%, Ethereum adding 1.2% and Dogecoin trading 1.1% higher

• Oil trades flat while US natural gas prices pull back over 3%

• Precious metals trade slightly lower today

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

CHNComp is trading over 2% higher during the first session after a long, 5-day weekend. Index reached the highest level in nearly 7 months and is looking towards a test of the 7,900 pts resistance zone. Source: xStation5