Morning wrap (22.12.2022)

• US indices finished yesterday's trading significantly higher with all major Wall Street indices gaining over 1%. S&P 500 gained 1.49%, Dow Jones added 1.60% and Nasdaq moved 1.54% higher. Small-cap Russell 2000 jumped 1.65%

• Indices from Asia-Pacific traded mostly higher. Nikkei and S&P/ASX 200 gained around 0.5% each, Kospi traded 1.2% higher and Nifty 50 dropped 0.6%

• Chinese stocks outperformed with Hang Seng trading 2.3% higher. Shares of Chinese property companies gained as China unveiled new support measures for the sector

• Chinese securities regulator said that it will ease access to credit and will help high-quality real estate companies improve their balance sheets

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

• ECB member de Guindos said that 50 bp rate hikes may be a new standard for the European Central Bank

• German Finance Ministry sees subdued economic growth over the winter and inflation to ease next year

• Major cryptocurrencies trade higher today. Bitcoin gains 0.2%, Ethereum gains 0.1% and Dogecoin jumps 0.5%. Litecoin trades 1.1% higher

• Energy commodities trade higher - Brent and WTI gain around 0.2% while US natural gas prices jump 2%

• Precious metals trade mixed - silver drops 0.6%, gold trades flat and platinum gains 0.9% 

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

CHNComp trades higher today and makes another attempt at breaking above the 200-session moving average (purple line). Gains on Chinese indices are fuelled by property sector shares which benefit from new support measures announced by authorities. Source: xStation5