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Overnight on Wall Street: Wednesday 17 February 2021
17 February 2021
Equity markets
US Equity markets started strongly with a post Presidents Day holiday bump, only to fade during the session with only the Dow 30 managing to keep in positive territory and hit another record high.
It was a quiet night on the news front with nothing released to drive the markets. To gauge the progress of the US economic recovery, all eyes will be on tonight’s US retail sales figures where a sizable increase is forecasted from last month’s negative figure.
Source: Yahoo Finance
COVID
US vaccination efforts have increased with an estimated 11.8% of the population now having received at least one dose of the vaccine. Cases and hospitalizations are dropping dramatically across the U.S underpinning hopes of an economic recovery.
In Australia, the TGA approved the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which will be the main vaccine used for the majority of Australians. Vaccinations are expected to begin in March.
FX markets
AUDUSD
With no major economic announcements, the AUDUSD weakened with a combination of US dollar strength and a bounce off the technically strong 78c resistance level. Tomorrow all important employment figures will be keenly watched by Aussie traders.
Source: GO MT4
GBPUSD
The British pound held its recent gains, as optimism grew over the speed and effectiveness of the UK’s coronavirus vaccine rollout. GBPUSD has hit its highest level since April 2018. The success of the UK’s vaccination programme is fuelling hopes of a swifter rollback of the restrictions currently hobbling the UK economy.
Source: GO MT4
Bitcoin
Bitcoin achieved another milestone last night, breaking past $50,000 USD for the first time before pulling back to settle around the 49,000 USD mark.
Bolstered by endorsements from names like Paul Tudor Jones, Elon Musk and Morgan Stanley the cryptocurrency has rallied 70% so far this year.
| Thursday, 18 February 2021 Indicative Index Dividends Dividends are in Points |
||||||
| ASX200 | WS30 | US500 | US2000 | NDX100 | CAC40 | STOXX50 |
| 2.015 | 3.076 | 0.144 | 0.1 | 0.58 | 0 | 0 |
| ESP35 | ITA40 | FTSE100 | DAX30 | HK50 | JP225 | INDIA50 |
| 0 | 0 | 12.343 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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