Morning wrap (29.01.2021)

• US indices finished yesterday's trading higher. S&P 500 gained 0.98%, Dow Jones added 0.99% and Nasdaq finished 0.50% higher. Russell 2000 finished flat

• Stock indices in Asia traded lower. Nikkei dropped 1.9%, S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.6%, Kospi lost 2.6% and indices from China moved lower

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

• Total coronavirus death toll exceeded 2.2 million

• Novovax said that its vaccine has 89% efficacy against coronavirus but efficacy against South African strain of the virus is only 60%

• Party of the former Italian PM Renzi, Italia Viva, said that it will support effort to form a new government

• US Senate panel will hold a hearing on the stock market situation amid abnormal gains in US small-cap stocks

• Robinhood said that it will allow limited purchases of earlier restricted securities today

• Bitcoin trades near $32,600 after setting an overnight high at $34,000

• Oil and agricultural commodities trade mostly flat. Precious metals trade mixed - silver and platinum drop while palladium and gold advance

• USD and GBP are top performing major currencies while CAD and JPY lag the most

• Visa reported Q4 EPS of $1.42 (exp. $1.28) and revenue of $5.69 billion (exp. $5.53 billion). Company announced a $8 billion share buyback programme

600 thousand new coronavirus cases were reported yesterday. Total coronavirus death toll surpassed 2.2 million. Source: worldometers, XTB