– US indices finished yesterday’s trading higher as traders looked past looming Fed’s tightening. S&P 500 gained 1.13%, Dow Jones moved 0.74% higher and Nasdaq jumped 1.95%. Russell 2000 gained 1.08%
– Stocks in Asia-Pacific traded higher as well. Nikkei rallied 3%, S&P/ASX 200 jumped 0.5% and Kospi added 0.9%. Indices from China traded 0.3-1.7% higher
– DAX futures point to a higher opening of the European cash trading session today
– Ukrainian President Zelensky is expected to take part in NATO summit online. However, it is not known whether he will only make an address or participate in the whole meeting
– According to Wall Street Journal, Biden administration prepares to impose sanctions on more than 300 members of Russian parliament
– A bipartisan group of US senators will discuss possibility of freezing Russian gold reserves, through ban on selling, with US Treasury Secretary Yellen
– Fed’s Mester said that may have to deliver a 50 basis point hikes more than once this year
– Tangshan, a city in the Chinese Hebei province and a major steel hub, has been put under lockdown. Residents are forbidden from leaving their homes until lockdown ends (no date set yet)
– United States agreed to remove tariffs on UK steel and aluminum and UK agreed to remove retaliatory tariffs on US
– Oil trades slightly higher after Russia warned about a sharp drop in oil exports via the Caspian pipeline after infrastructure was damaged by a storm. It is said that 1 million barrels of daily exports could be in danger
– According to Wall Street Journal, Chevron told US authorities that it can help Venezuela double its oil production
– API report pointed to a 4.3 million barrel drop in US oil inventories (exp. +0.1 mb)
– Precious metals trade mixed – gold and platinum pull back, palladium gains and silver trades more or less flat
– GBP and JPY are the best performing major currencies while NZD and AUD lag the most