Gold continues to hold at higher levels ahead of the European open
London (Feb 18) Gold has retraced slightly from lofty levels and trades at $1891.79/oz ahead of the European open. Silver is trading 0.27% higher at $23.89/oz after two sessions of gains. In the rest of the commodities complex, copper is 1.42% higher and spot WTI fell 0.77% overnight at Russia's Lavrov agreed to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Blinken.
Stocks were mixed overnight as the Nikkei 225 (-0.42%) and ASX (-1.02%) both struggled but the Shanghai Composite rose 0.66%. Futures in Europe are mildly positive ahead of the cash open.
In FX markets, commodities currencies performed well against the greenback. AUD, CAD, and NZD all pushed higher with NZD/USD the best performer. In the crypto space, BTC/USD those 0.31% after a 7.65% fall on Thursday.
News from overnight:
U.S. Secretary of State Blinken will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov late next week.
Russia continues to reaffirm that troops are leaving following military drills.
Fed's Mester says the Fed will take action to keep inflation under control.
Mester also added the FOMC should act more quickly than in the previous tightening episode.
Fed's Bullard says 100bps hike could be managed in many ways.
Biden to host a meeting with leaders (head of NATO) of Canada, France, Germany, the U.K., and more on Friday.
China has halted flights from Zhuhai to Bejing on COVID-19 outbreak
More from Japan's fin min - ready to splurge more fiscal support "without hesitation".
UK Times reports that senior UK government figures " convinced Putin is about to invade”.
US President Biden is expected to issue a cryptocurrency executive order next week.
U.K. January retail sales +1.9% vs +1.0% m/m expected.
Japan January Headline CPI 0.5% y/y (expected 0.6%).
Looking ahead to the rest of the session highlights include Swedish CPIF, U.S. existing home sales, EZ consumer confidence, comments from Fed's Williams, Brainard, Evans, ECB's Elderson, Panetta, and earnings continue.
KITCO
