• US indices plunged yesterday as Powell said that quicker pace of tapering seems to be needed and inflation can no longer be seen as transitory

  • S&P 500 dropped 1.90%, Dow Jones moved 1.86% lower and Nasdaq declined 1.55%. Russell 2000 plunged 1.92%
  • However, risk moods improved during the Asian session and majority of indices from the region can be seen trading higher. Nikkei gained 0.4%, Kospi added 2.2%, S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.3% and indices from China advanced
  • DAX futures point to a higher opening of today’s trading session
  • According to Goldman Sachs, drop in oil prices has overshoot the likely impact of Omicron variant
  • Israeli Health Minister said that there are is early evidence that booster shots provide protection against Omicron as well
  • Chinese manufacturing PMI (Caixin/Markit) for November dropped from 50.6 to 49.9 (exp. 50.5)
  • Japanese manufacturing PMI for November jumped from 53.2 to 54.5 (exp. 54.2)
  • Australian Q3 GDP report showed a 1.9% QoQ contraction (exp. -2.7% QoQ)
  • South Korean exports increased 32.1% YoY in November while imports were 43.6% YoY higher
  • API report pointed to a 0.75 million barrel draw in US oil inventories (exp. -1.6 mb)
  • Cryptocurrencies continue to trade sideways. Bitcoin is trading slightly below $57,000 mark
  • Gains can be spotted all across the commodities market. Precious metals and industrial metals advance on weaker USD. Oil rallies 3%
  • AUD, NZD and CAD are the best performing major currencies while CHF and JPY lag the most