• US indices finished yesterday’s session sharply lower. S&P 500 fell 2.44%, Dow Jones moved 1.45% lower, Nasdaq plunged 3.74% while Russell 2000 fell 1.97%
  • However US equity futures recouped some losses in Asian trade amid strong quarterly reports from tech names including Amazon, Snap and Pinterest
  • Positive moods prevail in Asia. Nikkei rose 0.66%, S&P/ASX 200 gain 0.59%, while Kospi jumped 1.35%. Liquidity was limited due to Chinese Lunar New Year
  • DAX futures point to a higher opening of the European cash session today
  • Amazon (AMZN.US) released earnings per share at 5.80 USD, compared to market expectations of 3.63 USD. Revenue: $137.4 billion vs $137.6 billion expected. Company reported a gain of almost $12 billion from its investment in electric vehicle company Rivian.
  • RBA kept rates at 0.1% and finished its bond buying program, as widely expected, but governor Philip Lowe reiterated that the bank will stay patient on moving policy.
  • Citi expects “the sequential trend of quarterly global stock draws will flip to inventory builds as soon as 2Q’22, and sustain for the next 15-18 months”
  • BOJ Gov Kuroda says Japanese consumer inflation is weaker than that in the US and Europe
  • The Japanese government is looking at diverting some supplies of gas to Europe
  • US is imposing visa restrictions on multiple Belarusian nationals
  • IMF says its too early to say world is facing an era of sustained inflation
  • Cryptocurrencies are trading higher today. Bitcoin jumped above  $37,700 while Ethereum trades above $2,780
  • Precious metals and oil prices rose slightly
  • EUR and NZD are the best performing major currencies while CAD and GBP lag the most