A flight out of equities and into the safety of bonds was the opening theme yesterday - Could this be repeated?
US futures are under pressure, alongside a broad sell off in Asian equity markets. Geopolitical risks and prospect of reduced central bank support all continued to weigh on sentiment. The rise in Omicron cases ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays & the Olympic Games is adding to worries over slowing growth in China. Australian inflation was higher than expected. Equities - Nikkei closed -1.7%, & ASX plunged -2.5% after the hot inflation data.. Yesterday, USA100 crashed -4.9%, with the broader indexes over -3% lower before paring losses. Gold held on to gains at $1841 as investors sought safety. BTC steadied to $35,000 handle. FX markets - Yen was supported as risk aversion picked up. FOMC meeting starts today, with an announcement due tomorrow.
Biggest Mover @ (07:30 GMT) Cocoa (-3.22%) Huge dive to 2488 from 2684 highs seen last week, breaking all daily SMAs (20-, 50-, 200-day).
