Overnight on Wall Street: Wednesday 17 February 2021

17 February 2021 By Lachlan Meakin

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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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