Overnight on Wall Street: Thursday 21 January 2021

21 January 2021 By Lachlan Meakin

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Equity markets

US markets pushed decidedly higher last night with the S&P 500 (US500) hitting record highs on the optimism that federal spending will revive growth and support corporate earnings with the new Biden administration inaugurated.

The NASDAQ 100 (NDX100) jumped more than 2% as Netflix (NFLX.NAS) surged after reporting solid earnings and a jump in subscribers.

Source: Google Finance

Following this lead futures in Hong Kong (HK50), Japan(JP225) and Australia (ASX200) are pointing to a higher opening for markets in the Asian session.

Currency markets 

US Dollar weakness continued with all major currencies performing well against the greenback with the exception of the Euro (EURUSD).

EURUSD headed lower ahead of tonight’s ECB monetary policy statement with traders expecting more QE in line with December’s €500bn extension to its pandemic-inspired quantitative easing programme.

Of the other major currencies the Canadian Dollar (USDCAD) was the best performer rising to a two-year high after the Bank of Canada predicted a strong second half rebound.

Source: GO MT4

The Aussie Dollar (AUDUSD) will be the currency to watch during the local session with the monthly employment change and unemployment rate released at 11:30am AEST.

Gold

Spot gold (XAUUSD) again rallied suggesting gold has now entered a bullish phase after bouncing decisively off the recent lows.

Gold moved up $31 an ounce or around 1.7% during the session with US Dollar weakness and the indication from the new US administration that more stimulus is coming creating a strong tailwind for the gold price going forward.


Source: GO MT4

Bitcoin

Bitcoin (BTCUSD) again consolidated and is trading in an ever-tightening range, finishing down for the session despite US Dollar weakness. With Bitcoin’s ascent quickly giving way to profit-taking momentum has stalled with $40,000 seen as a key level by JPMorgan strategists who believe investors will likely continue to exit their bitcoin positions unless it can retake that critical support level.


Source: GO MT4

Key upcoming events

  • ECB Monetary policy statement and press conference (EURUSD. Euro Indices)
  • Bank of England Governor Bailey speaks (GBPUSD, UK100)
  • New Zealand CPI q/q (NZDUSD)
Thursday, 21 January 2021 
Indicative Index Dividends
Dividends are in Points
ASX200 WS30 US500 US2000 NDX100 CAC40 STOXX50
0 0 0.094 0.075 0 0 0
ESP35 ITA40 FTSE100 DAX30 HK50 JP225 INDIA50
0 0 0 0 0 0 0


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