US indices finished yesterday’s session lower, following a downbeat trading in Europe. S&P 500 dropped 1.23%, Dow Jones moved 1.29% lower and Nasdaq declined 1.32%. Russell 2000 dropped 1.73%
Stocks in Asia traded mixed – Nikkei gained 0.2%, S&P/ASX 200 added 0.1%, Kospi moved 0.2% lower and indices from China traded 0.3-0.5% lower
DAX futures point to a flat opening of the European cash session today
United States is expected to announce another sanction package aimed at Russian elites
US President Biden is expected to announce more direct LNG shipments to Europe during his visit on the Old Continent
Australian Prime Minister said he is concerned about Putin attending G20 meeting as he was deemed war criminal by Australia’s allies
Western companies that decided to stay in Russia are reversing their decision amid public outrage. Nestle decided to suspend most activities in the country while Renault announced it will shut down its factory in Moscow. Energy companies are also announcing that they will stop purchasing Russian oil once current contract expire
The Bank of Russia said that a stock trading session will be held on Moscow Exchange today. However, trading will be limited to only 33 stocks and short selling will not be available
Japanese manufacturing PMI for March jumped from 52.7 to 53.2 (exp. 53.5)
Cryptocurrencies trade higher with Bitcoin reaching $43,000 and Ethereum moving above $3,000
Oil trades slightly lower following yesterday’s steep gains. Precious metals pull back
CAD, GBP and USD are the best performing major currencies while JPY and EUR lag the most. Overall, ranges on the major FX pairs were narrow during the Asian session