• US indices extended rebound on Friday and oscillate near 2 week high, in tandem with easing Treasury yields, which brought some respite to beaten-down technology and other high-growth stocks. US100 rose by 1.5%
• US yields retreated but remain above 4%, which means that market still expect Fed to remain quite hawkish
• Next week US equities will have a chance to move during Powell's congressional hearing on Tuesday and Wednesday and NFP release on Friday
• The ISM Services PMI for the US was at 55.1 in February, little-changed from 55.2 in January and above expectations of 54.5. Employment sub-index and new orders moved higher. Prices and production pulled back, however still remain in expansion territory
• Meta shares rose more than 6% after the tech giant announced a sharp price drop for its virtual reality headset.
• C3.ai stock jumped 30.0% on better-than-expected quarterly results and upbeat guidance
• Crude oil fell more than 1% after WSJ pointed out that the United Arab Emirates' are considering leaving OPEC in order to produce more oil. Rumors were denied later on and oil prices reversed the trend. OIL.WTI is trading 1.5% higher
• Gold gains due to lower yields and is approaching the $1850 mark, although EURUSD remains relatively low.
• The Fed's semi-annual monetary policy report shows the need for further hikes and points to a very strong labor market
• Natgas surged more than 8% to nearly $3/MMBtu on Friday, the highest in almost five weeks due to forecasts for higher heating demand in two weeks as temperatures are expected to fall
• Despite overall upbeat sentiment cryptocurrencies are facing significant selling pressure due to ongoing Silvergate concerns. Bitcoin briefly fell below key support at $22,000, while Ethereum tested $1540 mark.
ETHEREUM price fell over 6.0% on Friday and broke below psychological support at $1600, which coincides with 38.2% Fibonacci retracement of the upward wave started in June 2022. Currently buyers attempt to halt declines around local support at $1550, which is marked with previous price reactions. However, should break lower occur. sell-off may deepen towards recent lows at $1460. Source: xStation5