The biggest overnight moves have been capital flows between asset classes. The recent stampede into US bonds appears to be slowing with the 10-year treasury note yield bouncing back up toward 1.85% from near 1.75% yesterday. The US Dollar also appears to be backsliding a bit which has enabled other currencies to rally including gold, up 0.9% and back above $2,000/oz, the Euro, up 0.4% and Bitcoin up 3.1%.
Commodity action has been mixed. WTI crude oil and gasoline are both up 3.0%, while Brent Crude is back up above $125.00/bbl. Energy contracts have picked up in the last few minutes on media reports that the US may be preparing to ban oil imports from Russia, further expanding sanctions. Natural gas, however, is down 5.5% as the end of home heating season nears. In metals markets, Nickel has continued to soar to record levels in overseas trading (Russia hosts the world’s largest nickel mine), while copper is down 0.5%. Yesterday’s US market plunges of 3.0% for the S&P 500 and 3.6% for the NASDAQ continued through Asia Pacific trading where the Nikkei fell 1.7% and Shanghai dropped 2.4%. European and North American markets were trying to bounce back but this has faded. Currently the Dax is up 0.1% but the FTSE is down 0.5%. In the US, Dow futures are down 0.1% while NASDAQ futures are down 0.5%.
