Morning wrap (27.03.2023)

• Indices from Asia-Pacific launched new week's trading mixed - Nikkei traded 0.4% higher, S&P/ASX 200 moved 0.1% higher, Kospi dropped 0.2% and Nifty 50 added 0.2%. Indices from China traded 0.2-0.8% lower

• Major European and US index futures are trading over 1% above Friday's cash closing prices

• DAX futures trade almost 200 points, above Friday's cash close while S&P 500 futures 50 points higher

• Silicon Valley Bank was sold to First Citizens with around $72 billion worth of assets being purchased at a $16.5 billion discount as part of the deal. All deposits assumed by First Citizens will be insured by FDIC up to the insurance limit

• First Citizens will also receive a line of credit from FDIC for unforseen liquidity events

• Russian President Putin announced that Russia will station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus in response to Western countries increasing military support to Ukraine, especially UK providing Ukraine with depleted uranium ammunition

• ECB Schnabel noted that headline inflation began to fall, but core gauges are more sticky. She said that financial stress have so far been limited mainly to financial markets

• Fed Kashkari said that ongoing banking sector stress could bring the US closer to recession by triggering a credit crunch. However, he has noted that deposit outflow from smaller US banks have slowed and that confidence is being restored

• According to Reuters report, Russia is considering extending limits of fertilizer exports by another six months, until November

• Riksbank Governor Thedeen said that inflation is developing worse than it was previously thought and that another rate hike in April may be needed

• Cryptocurrencies are trading higher at the beginning of a new week - Bitcoin gains 1.4%, Ethereum trades 1.3% higher and Ripple jumps 1.7%. Dogecoin lags and drops 0.2%

• Energy commodities trade mixed - oil gains 0.6% while US natural gas prices drop 1.2%

• Precious metals are pulling back - gold drops 0.3%, silver trades 0.8% lower while platinum and palladium dip around 0.1% each

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

Futures markets point to a positive opening of a new week in Europe with German DAX futures (DE30) trading almost 300 points above Friday's cash close. Index is attempting to break above a mid-term resistance in the 15,250 pts area. Source: xStation5