Morning wrap (26.02.2021)

• US indices plunged yesterday amid a spike in yields. Nasdaq dropped 3.52%, Dow Jones declined 1.75%, S&P 500 slumped 2.45% and Russell 2000 plunged 3.69%.

• Sell-off continued during the Asian session. Nikkei dropped almost 4%, S&P/ASX 200 declined 2.3% and Kospi slumped 3%. Indices from China trade lower

• DAX futures point to a lower opening of the European session

• US 10-year yields sit slightly below 1.5%

• US Senate said that Biden's $15 minimum wage proposal cannot be part of economic relief package

• Japan will lift state of emergency in Osaka and western areas

• Reuters reports that United States carried out airstrike on  Iranian-backed fighters in Syria

• RBNZ Governor Orr that the New Zealand dollar is near fair value. He said that RBNZ is able to stimulate further and that negative rates remain an option

• Japan's industrial production increased 4.2% MoM in January (exp. 4% MoM). Retail sales declined 0.5% MoM (exp. -1.2% MoM)

• Private sector credit in Australia increased 0.2% MoM in January (exp. 0.3% MoM)

• Bitcoin is recovering from a daily low at $45,000

• Precious metals, oil, agricultural commodities and industrial metals trade lower.

• USD and JPY are the best performing major currencies while AUD, GBP and NZD lag the most

A small pick-up in new cases can be spotted with more than 400,000 new cases being reported in each of the past two days. Source: worldometers, XTB