Indices from Wall Street continued to gain yesterday. S&P 500 gained 0.28%, Dow Jones moved 0.11% higher and Nasdaq added 0.23%. Russell 2000 lagged and finished trading 0.82% lower

Stocks in Asia-Pacific traded mostly lower today. Nikkei dropped almost 1%, Kospi moved 0.2% lower and indices from China traded 0.3-1.6% lower. S&P/ASX 200 added 0.5%

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

Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan said that more decisive actions against Omicron and Delta are required in Chinese virus hotspots

According to prepared text of the speech, Fed’s Brainard will tell US lawmakers today that inflation is too high and bringing it back towards the goal is an important task

Fed’s Daly said that part of policy accommodation needs to be removed. Daly also said that she supports beginning of rate hike cycle in March

Fed’s Bullard said that 4 rate hikes this year are likely. Fed’s Harker said he is open to more than 3 rate hikes in 2022 if situation requires it

Maersk, one of the largest shipping companies in the world, warned that global ports remain congested. However, situation in European ports is said to be improving

Cryptocurrencies continued recovery yesterday with Bitcoin climbing above $43,000

Precious metals and oil trade lower

Turkish lira drops over 2% against USD and EUR

NZD and JPY are the best performing major currencies while CHF and EUR lag the most. Overall, ranges on the FX market are narrow