Morning wrap (23.02.2022)

• US indices finished yesterday's trading lower. S&P 500 dropped 1.01%, Dow Jones moved 1.42% lower and Nasdaq finished 1.23% lower. Russell 2000 dropped 1.45%

• More positive moods could have been spotted during the Asian trading hours. S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.6%, Kospi added 0.5% and indices from China traded 0.3-1.8% higher

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

• United States and Germany agreed that Nord Stream 2 cannot be launched following recent Russian aggression towards Ukraine

• Joe Biden said that it is beginning of the Russian invasion on Ukraine

• United States, United Kingdom and Canada decided to move more troops to the eastern NATO countries, like Poland or Latvia

• Meeting between US Secretary of State Blinken and Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Lavrov was called off

• Satellite data showed increase in presence of Russian troops and equipment in Belarus

• Reserve Bank of New Zealand delivered a 25 basis point rate hike, in-line with expectations. NZD moved higher following the announcement even as some market participants expected a 50 bp hike

• Cryptocurrencies are trading slightly higher today. Bitcoin trades more or less flat near $38,000

• Oil trades a touch higher - Brent trades near $93.50 while WTI trades in the $91.70 area

• Precious metals trade mixed - gold drops, silver trades flat while platinum and palladium gain

• NZD and AUD are the best performing major currencies while USD and JPY are top laggards

NZDUSD is trading higher following a RBNZ rate hike. The pair has managed to break above the upper limit of a local market geometry and is making a break above the resistance zone ranging below the 23.6% retracement of the downward move started a year ago. Source: xStation5