Gold is marginally higher heading into the European open
LONDON (Mar 24) Gold is trading marginally higher heading into the European open at $1942.03/oz. Silver however is trading just under flat at $25/oz. In the rest of the commodities complex, copper (0.20%) and spot WTI (0.40%) are both trading in the black.
Risk sentiment was mixed overnight as the ASX (0.12%) and Nikkei 225 (0.25%) closed higher but the Shanghai Composite fell 0.63%. Futures in Europe are pointing to a slightly positive cash open.
In FX markets, USD/JPY moved another leg higher to reach 121.63. Both AUD/USD and NZD/USD fell 0.30% overnight. In the crypto space, BTC/USD moved half a percent higher.
News from overnight:
The U.S. is set to announce more sanctions on Russian individuals on Thursday.
The 'Anonymous' collective says it has hacked the central bank of Russia.
Australian PM Morrison says he is concerned about Putin attending G20 in November.
Governor of Russia's central bank tried to resign over Ukraine invasion - Putin said no.
U.S. President Biden is expected to announce direct shipments of liquefied natural gas to Europe.
Japan says North Korea projectile may be a new type of inter-ballistic missile. A missile is said to have landed 170km west of the Aomori prefecture.
German coalition partners come to an agreement to strengthen energy independence.
BOJ's Kataoka: Sees no prospect of BOJ tightening policy. He added that a weaker yen is positive for the Japanese economy as a whole.
Major Russian oil pipeline to be shut down for at least a month.
Japan's finance minister says looking into the issue of Russia's demand for payment for oil in rubles.
Google says users are having difficulty accessing Google News app and website in Russia.
Japan, Jibun Bank / Markit preliminary PMIs for March: manufacturing 53.2 (vs. prior 52.7).
Australian March preliminary PMIs: Manufacturing 57.3 (prior 57) & Services 57.9 (57.4).
Looking ahead to the rest of the session highlights include U.K. and EU PMIs, U.S. initial jobless claims, durable goods, policy announcements from Norway and Switzerland, the NATO and EU council meeting, and comments from Fed's Waller, Evans, Bostic, Kashkari, and ECB's Elderson.
KITCO
