Morning wrap (10.09.2021)

• Sentiment improved during the Asian session after it was reported that Joe Biden and Xi Jinping held a phone call for the first time in 7 months

• Presidents of the United States and China discussed a range of topics, including economic issues and Covid-19

• Stocks in Asia traded higher with Nikkei gaining 1%. US and European futures trade slightly higher

• Fed's Kaplan and Rosengren said that they will sell individual stock holdings to avoid appearance of conflict of interests

• New Zealand retail card spending dropped 19.8% month-over-month in August due to severe lockdowns

• New South Wales, a region of Australia, reported a record 1542 new Covid-19 cases. Authorities announced that they will remove restrictions on fully vaccinated

• Cryptocurrencies continue to trade in tight range following a crash at the beginning of the week. Bitcoin trades near $46,500 while Ethereum is trading near $3,400

• Oil recovered amid improved risk sentiment. Brent reapproached $72.00 while WTI climbed back above $68.60

• Precious metals gain on the back of US dollar weakness. Gold is testing $1,800 area while silver climbed back above $24.00

• Antipodean currencies - AUD and NZD - are leading among majors while safe havens like CHF and JPY are the worst performers

After a brief pause, the Japanese Nikkei (JAP225) resumed upward move. The index is trading at 5-month high and tests the resistance zone at 30,150 pts. Source: xStation5