- Major Wall Street launched today's trading little changed. US indices gained later on, but then started to erase those gains. S&P 500 trades 0.5% higher, Dow Jones gains 0.6%, Nasdaq trades flat and small-cap Russell 2000 rallies 1.9%
- European stock market indices traded higher today - German DAX gained 0.65%, French CAC40 added 0.55%, Dutch AEX moved 0.37% higher, while Italian FTSE MIB and Spanish IBEX jumped around 0.9% each. UK FTSE 100 was a laggard with an almost 0.3% drop
- Bitcoin tested $50,000 area today for the first time since December 2021, supported by still-strong inflows into crypto ETFs
- AUD and CAD are the best performing major currencies, while NZD and CHF lag the most
- US natural gas prices continue to decline and trade below $1.80 per MMBTu, following today's over-3% drop
- Oil trades little changed today - Brent futures trade around 0.1% lower, while WTI futures trade 0.3% higher
- Precious metals gain - silver adds 0.5%, platinum jumps 1.6% and palladium rallies 3%. Gold is an underperformer with a 0.2% drop at press time
- European Union proposed to impose restrictions on trading with Chinese companies that help Russia obtain sanctioned goods. This is the first time EU proposed imposing sanctions on Chinese companies over Russia's invasion of Ukraine
- Fed Bowman said it is too soon to project when and by how much the Fed will cut rates. She added that she does not see rate cuts as appropriate in the immediate future
- Fed Barkin said that US central bank is closing in on inflation target but the job is not done yet
- ECB Wunsch said that risks to inflation are 'quite limited' and that there are costs to waiting with lowering rates as market is already pricing in cuts
- New York Fed 1-year and 5-year inflation expectations stayed unchanged in January at 3.00% and 2.50%, respectively. 3-year inflation expectation dropped from 2.6% in December to 2.4% in January - the lowest level since March 2020
BITCOIN tested the $50,000 area today for the first time since December 2021. Source: xStation5
