General Sentiment:

Asian shares were in the mix today morning, following Fed member Richard Clarida sounding hawkish last night. Clarida once again mentioned that the conditions needed to hike rates could be met by end of 2022.

Equities:

The Dow dropped 323 points overnight on weak labor market news. The ADP Nonfarm employment change rose only 330K VS 690K expected, rising investors concerns on the next Fed meeting and the Nonfarm payroll figures due tomorrow.

The Nasdaq on the other hand was able to hold on to gains from the previous session after investors also weighed in positive ISM Services figures.

Currency Market:

The dollar index climbed after hawkish Fed comments that led to investors betting on early asset tapering.

The USD/JPY climbed back to 109.67 after falling overnight to 108.71.

The sterling also rose today morning ahead of the BOE decision later today and the UK’s leading economic indicators.

Commodities: Gold

The yellow metal showed quite the volatility yesterday after the ADP Non-Farm figures and the ISM services figures. Gold continued to drop after the Feds comments and the USD strength to $1,813 from highs of $1.831.

Commodities: Oil

Oil prices also intensely fell overnight after an unexpected stockpile build-up in the U.S.

Oil prices were able to pick up slightly today with both Brent and WTI rising 0.3% to $70.60 and $68.38.