• US indices finished yesterday’s trading significantly higher. S&P 500 gained 0.82%, Dow Jones added 0.80%, Nasdaq moved 0.55% higher and Russell 2000 finished 0.36% higher

  • Upbeat moods could have also been spotted during the Asian trading hours. S&P/ASX 200, Kospi and indies from China gained while Nikkei moved lower
  • DAX futures point to a slightly higher opening of the European session
  • United States sent naval vessel to monitor hijacked tanker off the United Arab Emirates cost
  • NZD rallies following release of solid New Zealand jobs data for Q2 2021. Employment increased 1% QoQ (exp. 0.7% QoQ) while the unemployment rate dropped from 4.7% to 4.0% (exp. 4.5%)
  • Australian retail sales data for June showed a 1.8% MoM drop, in-line with flash release
  • API report pointed to a 0.88 million barrel drop in oil inventories (exp. -2.0 mb)
  • Chinese Caixin services PMI jumped from 50.3 to 54.9 in July (exp. 50.6)
  • Bitcoin trades in the $38,000 area
  • Precious metals inch higher, oil pulls back and industrial metals trade mixed
  • NZD is the best performing major currency while CHF and USD lag the most