-Indices from Asia-Pacific traded mostly higher during the first session of a new week. S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.8%, Kospi moved 0.6% higher and indices from China traded up to 1.9% higher. Nikkei and Nifty 50 were exceptions, dropping around 1.1 and 0.3%, respectively

– European index futures point to a slightly higher opening of the cash session on the Old Continent today

– US futures trade a touch above Friday’s cash closing prices

– According to Bloomberg report, senior figures in Japanese government do not think it is right time to make major changes in BoJ policy as it would be premature to withdraw monetary support when demand continues to lag behind supply

– China reported almost 60 thousand Covid-related deaths since easing restrictions. Hospitalizations remain high but are said to be past the peak already

– Bank of Japan carried out a bond buying operation in order to push down yields. BoJ is set to announce monetary policy decision later this week and there are is speculation that another widening of YCC band may be on the cards

– Japanese PPI inflation accelerated from 9.3 to 10.2% YoY in December (exp. 9.5% YoY)

– Chinese residential building prices dropped 1.5% YoY in December

– Cryptocurrencies trade higher at the beginning of a new week. Bitcoin gains 1.1%, Ethereum trades 0.8% higher and Ripple adds almost 3%

– Energy commodities trade mixed – oil drops around 1% while US natural gas prices gains over 4%

– In spite of USD weakness, precious metals fail to catch a bid. Gold drops 0.3%, platinum trades 0.5% down while silver adds 0.3%

– NZD and GBP are the best performing major currencies while JPY and USD lag the most