Morning wrap (20.02.2023)

• Indices from Asia-Pacific traded mostly higher at the beginning of a new week. Nikkei and S&P/ASX 200 traded 0.1% higher, Kospi added 0.2% and Nifty 50 dropped 0.1%. Indices from China traded up to 2% higher

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

• US index futures trade little change compared to Friday's cash closing prices

• US and Canadian traders are off for holidays today so liquidity conditions in the afternoon may be thinner

• US Secretary of State Blinken said that US has information suggesting that China is considering providing Russia with ammunition and lethal weapons for war in Ukraine

• Bloomberg reports that meeting between Blinken and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi over the weekend was rocky and far from encouraging

• People's Bank of China left 1- and 5-year prime lending rates unchanged at 3.65 and 4.30%, respectively. Decision was in-line with expectations

• According to Reuters report, People's Bank of China has reportedly asked domestic bank to slow issuance of loans this month

• North Korea fired two ballistic missiles today. UN Security Council will convene at 8:00 pm GMT today to discuss the situation

• Cryptocurrencies are trading mixed today with major coins experiencing rather small moves. Bitcoin drops 0.2%, Ethereum trades 0.3% higher and Dogecoin adds 0.4%

• Energy commodities trade mixed - oil gains 0.8-0.9% while natural gas pulls back around 2%

• Precious metals benefit from USD weakening at the beginning of a new week - gold and silver gain around 0.1% each while platinum adds almost 0.5%

• AUD and JPY are the best performing major currencies while CHF, EUR and USD lag the most

NZDUSD bounced off the 0.62 support zone last week but failed to launch a major recovery move. There is a lot of uncertainty around NZD as RBNZ is set to announce rate decision this week (Wednesday, 1:00 am GMT) and some see a chance for rate hike cycle pause amid recent floods and cyclone hit. Source: xStation5