– Indices from Asia-Pacific traded higher today with Nikkei gaining 1.4%, S&P/ASX moving 0.1% higher and Nifty 50 adding 0.6%. Overall, liquidity conditions were thin as traders from China, South Korea and Singapore were off for holidays

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

– US index futures trade slightly above Friday’s closing prices

– Wall Street Journal reports that Fed is likely to deliver a 25 basis point rate hike when it announces its next decision on February 1, 2023 rather than go with a 50 basis point rate hike

– ECB’s Knot said that 50 basis point rate hikes are base case scenario for February and March meeting and more rates hikes will follow later

– ECB’s Rehn said that he sees case for significant rates hikes this winter and spring

– According to Bank of Japan minutes, one BoJ member said the decision to widen the tolerance band around target yield from 0.25 to 0.50% is inappropriate. However, the decision was ultimately unanimous

– JPMorgan said that risk of US recession has fallen sharply and the Bank said that its model now show less than 50% chance of a recession

– Cryptocurrencies trade hgiher, benefiting from an overall improvement in moods. Bitcoin gains 0.4%, Ethereum adds 0.5% and Dogecoin jumps 2.4%. Moonbeam adds 3.8%

– Oil trades around 0.4% lower on the day while US natural gas prices jump 4.5%

– Precious metals are trading lower at the beginning of a new week – gold and platinum drop 0.3% while silver trades 0.4% lower

– EUR and CHF are the best performing major currencies while JPY, USD and NZD lag the most