Morning wrap (02.03.2023)

• US indices finished the first trading session of a new month mostly lower. While Dow Jones and Russell 2000 finished more or less flat, S&P 500 dropped almost 0.5% and Nasdaq moved over 0.6% lower

• Poor performance of US equity indices was accompanied by another pick-up in US yields. 10-year Treasury yield climbing above 4% for the first time since November 2022

• Indices from Asia-Pacific traded mixed today. Nikkei dropped 0.1%, Nifty 50 moved 0.3% lower, S&P/ASX 200 traded flat and Kospi added 0.6%. Indices from China traded 0.1-0.8% lower

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

• Reuters reports that Chinese officials may set a 6% GDP growth target for 2023, what would be higher than 4.5-5.5% proposed back in November. Target is expected to be announced on Sunday, March 5

• Australian building approvals slumped 27.6% MoM in February (exp. -9.2% MoM)

• Japanese capital expenditures increased 7.7% YoY in Q4 2022

• Salesforce (CRM.US) rallied over 15% in the after-hours trading following the release of the earnings report. Company reported sales at $8.38 billion (exp. $7.99 billion) and EPS at $1.68 (exp. $1.36). Salesforce announced expansion of buyback programme from $10 to $20 billion

• Cryptocurrencies are trading lower on Thursday - Bitcoin drops 0.3%, Dogecoin trades 1% lower and Ethereum pulls back 0.5%

• Energy commodities trade lower - oil pulls back 0.3% while US natural gas prices drop 0.6%

• Precious metals pull back amid USD strengthening - gold drops 0.2%, platinum dips 0.4% and silver trades 0.7% lower

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

Continued drop in US bonds (TNOTE - light blue overlay) is putting pressure on Wall Street indices. 10-year US yields climbed above 4% yesterday and S&P 500 futures (US500) are making a break below 200-session moving average today. Source: xStation5