Morning wrap (18.12.2023)

• Indices from Asia-Pacific traded lower at the beginning of a new week. Nikkei dropped 0.7%, S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.2%, Nifty 50 traded flat and Kospi gained 0.1%. Indices from China traded 0.4-1.0% lower
• US index futures trade 0.3% higher while European index futures point to a flat or slightly lower opening of the cash session on the Old Continent
• South Korea condemned ballistic missile launched by North Korea over the weekend
• Reuters reported on Friday that ECB is not looking for dovish pivot before March 2024 and any rate cut before June would be difficult
• Russia's deputy prime minister Novak said that Russia will deepen oil output cuts beyond 300k bpd agreed for this year and hinted it could be additiona 50k bpd
• Fed's Goolsbee said that it is still too early to declare victory on soft landing as there are warning signs like credit card debt and auto lending delinquencies going up
• Cryptocurrencies are trading lower - Bitcoin drops 1.2%, Ethereum is down 1.8% and Dogecoin declines 1.4%
• Energy commodities trade higher - oil gains 0.5% while US natural gas prices climb 2.5%
• Precious metals benefit from USD weakness - gold trades 0.3% higher, silver and platinum add 0.7% while palladium gains 1%
• AUD and NZD are the best performing major currencies while JPY and USD lag the most

Brent (OIL) continues recovery move launched after failed attempt at breaking below $72.50 support zone. Price is trading over 6% above last week's lows and bulls area trying to break above $77 resistance. Source: xStation5