Morning Wrap (15.02.2024)

Wall Street indexes ended yesterday's session with gains - contracts on S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 increased between 0.90-1.00%. US500 contracts closed above 5000 points.

Indexes from Asia and the Pacific were mixed - Nikkei showed no significant changes, Australian S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.34%, while Chinese indexes lost between 0.20-0.40%.

Futures contracts on European indexes indicate a slightly lower opening for the cash session in Europe.

In the forex market, no major changes are observed in the first part of the day. The Japanese Yen is the strongest currency among G10 currencies in the first part of the day, while the Australian dollar is one of the weakest. USDJPY loses 0.25% to 150.100.

Employment in Australia was surprisingly weak in January, while the unemployment rate rose to the highest level in two years, signaling a slowdown in the job market.

Data showed that net employment increased by only 500 people in January compared to December, when it fell by 62,800 people. The unemployment rate rose to 4.1%, exceeding forecasts of 4.0% and was the highest since January 2022.

The Japanese economy unexpectedly contracted in the fourth quarter of 2023. Preliminary data showed that gross GDP fell by 0.4% annually and by 0.1% quarterly. Economists expected the economy to grow by 1.1%. The report showed that both households and businesses cut spending.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel intends to continue its offensive against Hamas in Rafah, the last refuge for displaced Palestinians in the southern Gaza Strip, after allowing civilians to leave the area.

The Israeli leader, who is under increasing international pressure to hold off on the planned attack, did not specify when the offensive might occur or where the hundreds of thousands of people currently crowded in Rafah might go.

The Taiwanese Ministry of Defense reported that on Wednesday, it detected 14 Chinese air force planes operating around Taiwan and conducting "joint readiness patrols" with Chinese warships.

Bitcoin continues to rise, breaking the level of 52,000 USD in the first part of the day. Ethereum and other Altcoins perform slightly worse, gaining respectively 0.10% and 0.01%.