Morning wrap (30.12.2022)

• US indices finished yesterday's trading significantly higher. S&P 500 gained 1.75%, Dow Jones added 1.05% and Nasdaq moved 2.57% higher. Small-cap Russell 2000 jumped 2.59%

• Indices from Asia-Pacific traded mixed. Nikkei fell 0.04% and S&P/ASX 200 gained around 0.25%, Kospi  dropped 1.9%. Chinese indices traded higher

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

• Italian Prime Minister Meloni said the ECB's European Stability Mechanism (ESM) bailout fund conditions that are "too stringent" and may never be used

• Meloni also said Covid situation in Italy is under control

• China-developed Covid-19 antiviral pill appears to be as effective as Pfizer’s Paxlovid 

• PBOC injected a net of CNY 975 billion into the banking system this week, the largest weekly injection since 2019

• South Korea CPI was at 5.0% YoY in December, in line with expectations 

• The Times’ suggested that UK Prime Minister’s is willing to halve financial support on energy bills for businesses due to costs

• TC Energy restarted Keystone pipeline's Cushing leg and all the delivery points are now operational. However the pipeline will operate with additional risk mitigation measures, this includes reduced operating pressures.

• Major cryptocurrencies trade lower today. Bitcoin fell 0.5%, Ethereum dropped 0.6% 

• Energy commodities trade mixed - Brent and WTI gain around 0.2% and 0.5% respectively while US natural gas prices plunged 1.9%

• Precious metals trade higher - silver jumped 0.7%, gold gains 0.3% 

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

AUDUSD pair continues to trade in between 50- and 200-hour moving averages, awaiting a catalyst for a break. Source: xStation5