Morning wrap (12.12.2022)

• Indices from Asia-Pacific traded lower at the beginning of a new week. Nikkei dropped 0.2%, S&P/ASX 200 moved 0.4% lower, Kospi declined 0.7% and Nifty 50 traded flat. Indices from China traded up to 2% lower

• European index futures point to a slightly lower opening of the cash session on the Old Continent today

• US index futures trade more or less flat compared to Friday's cash closing prices

• China will remove its Covid-tracking app as another step in its reopening process. While Chinese reopening was rumored by the media for some time, quick pace of lifting restrictions is rather surprising

• US Treasury Secretary Yellen said she expects US inflation to drop significantly in 2023 and to be much lower by the end of 2023

• Japanese PPI inflation accelerated from 9.1% YoY to 9.3% YoY in November (exp. 8.9% YoY)

• US natural gas trades almost 9% higher at press time as new weather forecasts point a much colder weather for the United States in the run-up to Christmas

• Cryptocurrencies trade lower - Bitcoin drops 1%, Ethereum trades 1.2% lower and Dogecoin plunges 5.8%

• Oil is trading higher today - WTI gains 0.4% while Brent trades 0.1% higher

• Precious metals pull back amid USD strengthening - gold and silver drop 0.5% while platinum trades 0.8% lower

• USD and CAD are the best performing major currencies while AUD and JPY lag the most

US natural gas prices launch new week's trading with a big bullish price gap amid a colder weather forecasts for the United States. NATGAS is once again testing resistance zone in the 7.00 area. Source: xStation5