Morning wrap (19.02.2021)

• US indices finished yesterday's trading lower. S&P 500 dropped 0.44%, Dow Jones declined 0.38% and Nasdaq finished 0.72% lower. Russell 2000 slumped 1.67%

• Stocks in Asia are trading lower as well. Nikkei dropped 0.72% and S&P/ASX 200 declined 1.34%. Kospi is trading 0.5% higher while indices from China trade mixed

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

• US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that current stock market valuations are very high amid low-interest rate environment and that investors should be careful

• President Biden repeated that the United States has to go big on Covid-19 relief. In other news, it was reported that senior Democrats discussed $3 trillion jobs and infrastructure package (in addition to current $1.9 trillion package)

• House Speaker Pelosi said that vote on $1.9 stimulus package will take place by the end of next week

• US is open to meeting with Iran to find a "diplomatic way forward"

• Australia may approve a permanent increase in unemployment benefits instead of extending current Covid-related $150 benefit

• Prime Minister of South Korea said he is considering launching fifth round of cash handouts

• According to German Finance Ministry, tax revenues in the country were 11.1% YoY lower in January

• Japanese manufacturing PMI index jumped from 49.8 to 50.6 in February (exp. 50)

• Oil trades lower as oil companies in Texas slowly restart production

• Precious metals pull back

• Bitcoin trades near $51,500

• AUD and NZD are top performing major currencies while CAD and CHF lag the most

Almost 400 thousand new coronavirus cases were reported yesterday. Source: worldometers, XTB