Morning wrap (24.01.2023)

• US indices finished higher for the second day in a row yesterday. S&P 500 gained 1.19%, Dow Jones added 0.76% and Nasdaq rallied 2.01%. Russell 2000 traded 1.25% higher

• Indices from Asia-Pacific followed into footsteps of their US peers and also traded higher today. Nikkei gained 1.5%, S&P/ASX 200 added 0.4% and Nifty 50 traded little changed. Traders from China, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore were off for holidays

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

• According to a Bloomberg report, the United States confronted China over signs that some Chinese state-owned companies are supporting the Russian war effort. US warned China about implications of supplying material support for Russia's war

• US Energy Secretary Granholm said President Biden would veto a proposed bill that bans SPR sales without providing plan for boosting production

• Media reports that United States is considering canceling next strategic petroleum reserve sail, amounting to around 26 million barrels

• ECB President Lagarde repeated that interest rates in euro area still have to rise signficantly

• Japanese manufacturing PMI remained unchanged at 48.9 in January (exp. 49.4) while services gauge moved higher from 51.1 to 52.4

• Australian manufacturing PMI dropped from 50.2 to 49.8 in January while services index dropped from 48.3 to 47.3

• Cryptocurrencies are trading mostly higher today - Bitcoin gains 0.8%, Ethereum adds 0.6% and Dogecoin trades 1.3% higher. Binancecoin rallies over 4%

• Oil is trading around 0.1% lower while US natural gas prices rise 0.5%

• Precious metals gain as the US dollar pulls back. Gold and platinum add 0.4% while silver trades 0.5% higher

• NZD and JPY are the best performing major currencies while USD and CHF lag the most

S&P 500 (US500) traded higher yesterday and reached a fresh monthly high. The index is now attempting to make a break above the resistance zone ranging around 4,050 pts mark. Source: xStation5