Morning wrap (18.11.2021)

• US indices finished yesterday's trading lower. S&P 500 dropped 0.26%, Dow Jones moved 0.58% lower and Nasdaq closed 0.33% lower. Russell 2000 plunged 1.16%

• Downbeat moods extended into Asian trading with Nikkei, Kospi and Chinese indices trading lower. Australian S&P/ASX 200 managed to finished trading slightly higher

• DAX futures point to a flat opening of today's cash session in Europe

• Oil continues to slide after reports that China is working on releasing strategic oil reserves. In other news it was reported that United States also talked about releasing reserves with India and South Korea (apart from Japan and China)

• New Zealand dollar is the best performing G10 currency. RBNZ rate hike is now fully priced-in after 2-year inflation expectations data jumped from 2.27% in Q3 to 2.96% in Q4 2021

• Baltic Dry Index, reflecting bulk sea freight costs, dropped to a 5-month low. Rates drop for all types of vessels signalling that logistic issues may be easing around the world

• According to Nikkei index, new Japanese stimulus package may be worth 55.7 trillion JPY

• In spite of declines on stock exchanges, risk-on moods can be spotted on FX market with CHF and JPY being top laggards

• Precious metals and industrial metals drop in spite of USD weakness today

• Bitcoin climbed above $60,000 mark during the Asian session but failed to hold onto those gains and pulled back below later on

Oil continues to pull back from recent multi-year highs as the United States attempts to talk other countries into releasing strategic oil reserves. China is already releasing its own reserves. Brent (OIL) dropped below the $80.00 mark and trades at the lowest level since early-OCtober. Source: xStation5