According to Wall Street Journal, United States is readying sanctions on Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, and Alfa Bank, Russia’s largest private bank

– US indices finished yesterday’s trading lower, reversing much of the gains from the day earlier. S&P 500 dropped 1.26%, Dow Jones moved 0.80% lower and Nasdaq slumped 2.26%. Russell 2000 dropped 2.36%
– Stocks in the Asia-Pacific region also traded lower with Nikkei dropping 1.4%, Kospi moving 0.8% lower and S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.5%. Indices from China moved lower during the first session after a long weekend
– DAX futures point to a lower opening of the European cash session today
– Shanghai authorities said that lockdown in the city will last until everyone is Covid tested
– According to Wall Street Journal, United States is readying sanctions on Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, and Alfa Bank, Russia’s largest private bank
– Asian Development Bank lower China’s GDP growth forecast to 5.3 to 5.0% for 2022
– Deutsche Bank no longer expects the Fed to deliver soft landing when it tightens policy with a mild US recession following. Deutsche Bank expects US GDP to shrink in Q4 2023 and Q1 2024
– Wunsch from ECB said that inflation target has been essentially met and that he expects deposit rate to be hiked to zero by the end of this year
– Chinese Caixin services PMI dropped from 50.2 to 42.0 in March (exp. 49.9)
– API report on US oil inventories pointed to a 1.08 million barrel build (exp. -1.5 mb)
– Cryptocurrencies are pulling back. Bitcoin drops 1.2%, to $45,300, while Ethereum trades 2.4% lower near $3,360
– Oil trades higher. WTI jumps 1% to $102.40 while Brent trades 1.3% higher near $107.30
– Precious metals trade mostly flat. Gold, silver and platinum experience minor moves while Palladium gains 1.4%
– AUD and NZD are the best performing major currencies while JPY and CHF lag the most