-US indices finished yesterday’s session higher  as a rescue package for First Republic Bank eased market concerns about another bank failure in the US. S&P 500 rose 1.76%, Dow Jones added 1.17% and Russell 2000 jumped 1.38%. Nasdaq outperformed and managed to finish 2.48% higher

– Indices from Asia-Pacific traded higher today – Nikkei rose 1.10%, S&P/ASX 200 moved 0.48% higher while Kospi and Nifty 50 gained 0.60% and 0.25% respectively. Indices from China traded higher as well

– DAX futures point to a higher opening of today’s European cash session

– First Republic Bank reportedly exploring potential sale, according to Fox Business

– US Treasury Secretary Yellen told senators that government refunds of uninsured deposits will not be extended to every bank that fails, only those that pose systemic risk to the financial system

– Fitch believes that recent developments in US will not cause major shifts in US monetary policy

– S&P affirms US at AA+; with Outlook Stable pointing to continued economic resilience

– MUFG analysts said US inflation data remained elevated enough to justify FED 25bp rate hike next week

– Goldman Sachs expects ECB to hike rates by 25 bps in May

– Japan Economy Minister Goto doesn’t expect a big impact on Japan’s economy from US banking sector issues

– Cryptocurrencies are trading higher today – Bitcoin jumped over 4.0% and is testing 26,000 mark, while Ethereum advances more than 2.0%

– Energy commodities are trading mixed – oil rose 0.3% while US natural gas prices fell 0.8

– Precious metals trade higher today – silver jumped 1.4%, gold adds 0.7%

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