Morning wrap (04.01.2023)

• US indices finished the first trading session of 2023 lower. S&P 500 dropped 0.40%, Dow Jones moved 0.03% lower and Nasdaq declined 0.76%. Russell 2000 dropped 0.60%

• Indices from Asia-Pacific traded mixed today. Nikkei dropped 1.4%, Nifty 50 declined 0.9%, S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1.6% and Kospi added 1.7%. Indices from China traded mostly lower

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

• According to Bloomberg report, subway use in 11 major Chinese cities began to pick-up in a sign that communities are taking easier approach to Covid pandemic

• It is reported that PBoC guided domestic banks to provide offshore financing to Chinese property developers

• According to Nikkei report, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida will review BoJ policy with new central bank chief after Kuroda's term is set to end in April 2023

• According to Reuters report, Saudi Arabia considers cutting price of its Arab Light Crude oil for deliveries to Asia amid slow demand and abundance of Russian oil sold to Asia at discount

• AUD gained overnight on media reports saying that China may end ban on imports of Australian coal

• Japanese Prime Minister Kishida called onto firms to increase wage at pace exceeding inflation

• BoJ Governor Kuroda said that Bank of japan will continue with easy monetary policy in order to achieve price hikes in-line with wage growth target

• Cryptocurrencies are trading higher this morning. Bitcoin gains 1.1%, Ethereum trades 3% higher and Dogecoin rallies 3.5%

• Energy commodities pull back with Brent and WTI trading around 0.8% lower each

• Precious metals trade higher - gold and silver gain 0.4% while platinum adds 0.1%

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

Oil prices are pulling back after Reuters reported that Saudi Arabia plans to lower oil prices for deliveries in Asia. Weaker demand as well as abundance of cheap Russian product is named as a reason. WTI is dropping around 0.8% on the day and approaches support zone ranging between $76.50 mark and 23.6% retracement. Source: xStation5