Morning wrap (09.03.2021)

• US indices finished yesterday's trading mixed. Dow Jones gained 0.97%, S&P 500 dropped 0.54%, Nasdaq slumped 2.41% and Russell 2000 added 0.49%

• Stocks in Asia traded mixed today. Nikkei gained 1% and S&P/ASX 200 moved almost 0.5% higher. On the other hand, Kospi trades 0.4% lower and indices from China decline

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

• Janet Yellen said that there are tools to combat price growth in case recovery turns out to be inflationary. She also said that labour market may recover to pre-pandemic levels next year

• Speaker Pelosi said that House may vote on Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus tomorrow instead of today 

• Goldman Sachs boosted US 10-year yield forecast for end-2021 from 1.5 to 1.9%

• Japan's household spending dropped 6.1% YoY in January (exp. -2.1% YoY)

• Japan's wages declined 0.8% YoY in January (exp. -1.7% YoY)

• Japan's final GDP data for Q4 2020 showed growth of 2.8% QoQ (first release at 3% QoQ)

• Cryptocurrencies are on the move with Dash gaining over 9%, Litecoin jumping almost 6% and Bitcoin trading 5% higher

• Precious metals gain with platinum and silver being top performers. WTI and Brent trade around 0.5% higher

• AUD and GBP are top performing major currencies while JPY and USD lag the most

Nasdaq-100 (US100) slumped almost 3% yesterday amid heavy rotation out of tech and into value. Downward move was halted at the 50% retracement of the upward move started in September (12,280 pts). Index is trying to recover today. Source: xStation5