Morning wrap (04.08.2022)

• After a brief pause, US indices resumed an upward move yesterday. S&P 500 gained 1.56%, Dow Jones added 1.29% while Nasdaq surged 2.59%. Russell 2000 traded 1.41% higher

• Upbeat moods could be spotted during the Asian session as well. Nikkei gained 0.6%, S&P/ASX 200 traded 0.1% higher and Kospi added 0.5%. Indices from China traded up to 0.6% higher

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

• China began military drills around Taiwan. Taiwan said it deployed missile systems and is tracking movement of Chinese military plans

• US Senate approved Finland and Sweden bid to join NATO

• According to Nikkei report, China plans to inject 320 billion CNY (~$47 billion) into small and medium-sized banks amid a spike in non-performing loans resulting from lockdowns and property sector collapse

• According to Bloomberg report, high and unusual activity at El Hamra oil terminal in Egypt suggests that Russia is using it to bypass Western sanctions

• Freeport LNG terminal in Texas, that was shut down in June due to explosion, will resume operations at full capacity in October

• Cryptocurrencies trade mixed - Bitcoin drops 0.8% while Ethereum gains 0.9%

• Oil is trading a touch lower. Brent drops 0.3% and moves below $97 per barrel

• Precious metals post small gains. Gold gains 0.4%, silver adds 0.2% while platinum trades flat

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

S&P 500 (US500) retested the 4,100 pts area as a support but bulls managed to defend the zone. Index is testing the upper limit of the market geometry following yesterday's rally. Source: xStation5