US indices finished yesterday’s trading lower. S&P 500 dropped 0.81%, Nasdaq slumped 2.35% lower and Russell 2000 moved 1.56% lower. Dow Jones was an exception as it gained 0.15%

In spite of a poor Wall Street session, indices from Asia-Pacific are traded higher today. S&P/ASX 200 and Kospi gained 0.6% while indices from China traded up to 0.7% higher. Nikkei dropped 0.2%

DAX futures point to a higher opening of the European cash session

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand delivered a 50 basis point rate hike, in-line with expectations, pushing the official cash rate to 2.00%. This is fifth rate hike in a row and second straight 50 basis point rate hike

RBNZ Governor Orr said that the central bank stays committed to bring inflation under control and hinted that rates may increase beyond neutral levels. NZDUSD gained and reached 3-week high near 0.6500

South Korea and the United States conducted military drills today after North Korea fired 3 ballistic missiles into Sea of Japan

Australian construction work done dropped 0.9% QoQ in Q1 2022 (exp. +1.0% QoQ)

API report pointed to a 0.57 million barrel build in US oil inventories (exp. -0.6 mb)

Cryptocurrencies traded mixed on Wednesday but major coins gained. Bitcoin gains 1.3%, Ethereum trades 0.6% higher

Brent and WTI trade 0.5-0.6% higher

Precious metals pull back slightly. Palladium is an exception and gains 0.7%

NZD and GBP are the best performing major currencies while CHF and EUR lag the most

NZDUSD tested 0.6500 mark following a 50 bp rate hike from RBNZ. The pair reached a 3-week high but bulls struggle to hold onto those gains.