Morning wrap (03.09.2021)

• US indices finished yesterday's trading higher. S&P 500 gained 0.28%, Dow Jones added 0.37% and Nasdaq moved 0.14% higher. Russell 2000 gained 0.74%

• Stocks in Asia traded mostly higher. Nikkei rallied 2%, S&P/ASX 200 added 0.4% and Kospi moved 0.7% higher. Indices from China traded mixed

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

• Japanese Prime Minister Suga will resign. Suga won't run in upcoming elections for leadership in the Liberal Democratic Party either

• According to Telegraph report, UK Prime Minister Johnson will announce tax hikes next week to fund overhaul of the UK social care

• Russian Gazprom will allow China to pay for fuel in yuan instead of US dollars

• Chinese services PMI (Caixin/Markit) dropped from 54.9 to 46.7 in August (exp. 52.6)

• Australian retail sales dropped 2.7% MoM in July, in-line with expectations

• Bitcoin trades near $49,500 mark following wild overnight prices swings

• Precious metals trade higher while moods on the oil, industrial metals and agricultural goods markets are mixed

• AUD and NZD are the best performing major currencies while JPY and CHF lag the most

Nikkei (JAP225) popped higher on the news that PM Suga will resign. Nikkei is the best performing blue chips index in China today. Index delivered a break above the downward trendline today and reached the highest level since mid-June 2021. Source: xStation5