Daily summary - Fed has more reasons to hike

US core PCE inflation dropped from 5.0 to 4.7% YoY, while market expected slowdown to 4.6% YoY

Headline PCE inflation dropped from 6.1% to 5.5% YoY, slightly bigger drop than expected

Nevertheless, from Fed's point of view, core inflation is key and it does not show signs of as strong slowdown as in case of CPI

University of Michigan index for December was revised higher, thanks to a drop in inflation expectations. 1-year inflation outlook was lowered from 4.4 to 4.6%

US new home sales increased in November while durable goods orders dropped 

US dollar gained and indices took a hit in response to US PCE data release. However, those moves were quickly reversed and now both US indices and USD trade more or less flat

Natural gas prices continued to drop, moving to the lowest levels since March below $4.9 per MMBTu

Declines on gas market were triggered by lower than expected draw in stockpiles reported yesterday as well as Freeport LNG expected to resume operations in January

Simultaneously, winter attack in the United States is boosting gas consumption what may boost prices in near-term

Oil WTI tested $80 per barrel area following news of increase in Chinese imports as well as an expected peak in Chinese infections