– US indices finished yesterday’s trading slightly higher. S&P 500 jumped 0.31%, Dow Jones added 0.22% and Nasdaq moved 0.63% higher. Russell 2000 added 0.31%

– Indices from Asia-Pacific traded mixed today. Nikkei and Nifty 50 traded flat, Kospi added 0.4%, S&P/ASX 200 moved 0.5% higher and indices from China traded a touch lower

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

– White House has given government agencies a month (30 days) to delete TikTok from federal devices and systems. US authorities are concerned by security issues poised by Chinese-owned app

– BBC reports that there is agreement on Northern Ireland and that Brexit deal is completed

– BoJ Governor nominee Ueda said that he sees no need to revise the BoJ-government joint statement that could see a change to i.e. inflation target. BoJ Deputy Governor nominee Uchida said he expects Japanese CPI to drop below 2% by mid-fiscal 2023 (April 2023 – March 2024)

– ECB Lane said that case for 50 bp ECB rate hike at March meeting remains strong

– Japanese industrial production dropped 4.6% MoM in January (exp. -2.5% MoM)

– Japanese retail sales increased 6.3% YoY in January (exp. +4.1% YoY)

– Australian retail sales increased 1.9% MoM in January (exp. +1.6% MoM)

– Energy commodities trade mixed – oil gains 0.6% and US natural gas prices drop 0.3%

– Major cryptocurrencies are trading mixed – Dogecoin gains 1.2%, Litecoin adds 0.1%, Bitcoin drops 0.4% and Ethereum trades 0.2% lower

– Precious metals trade slightly higher in spite of USD strengthening – silver adds 0.2%, platinum gains 0.4% and gold trades flat

– USD and CAD are the best performing major currencies while NZD and CHF lag the most