Global Markets Positive Ahead Of Fed's Powell Speech, Bitcoin Soars 10%

Major indices worldwide traded in the green on Thursday ahead of Fed Chair Jerome Powell's monetary policy outlook speech in a virtual event at 17:30.

The Trump administration issued a clarification order Wednesday noting that investors have until November 2021 to sell securities in sanctioned Chinese firms, which excludes  Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE: BABA), Tencent Holdings (OTC: TCEHY), and Baidu Inc (NASDAQ: BIDU).

Futures: The Dow futures are up by 0.27%, and the S&P 500 futures are trading higher by 0.17% on the last check Thursday. WTI crude futures are up by 0.59% to $53.22, while gold futures are down 0.77% at $1,840.80. Ten-year Treasury yield is up by 1.7 bps at 1.105%. The VIX futures are down by 0.11% to 22.65.

Cryptocurrency: Bitcoin jumped 10.45% at $38,234 on the last check, and Ethereum rallied 7.79% at $1,164.20. Twitter Inc TWTR CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted about his passion for the Bitcoin model, while Grayscale moved to dissolve its XRP Trust.

Asia: Japan's Nikkei 225 closed higher by 0.85% after the nation's PPI fell 2% year-over-year. Foreign investment in Japanese bonds and stocks data is due later today, followed by Bank of Japan's Governor Kuroda speech.

China's Shanghai Composite slipped 0.91% as the COVID-19 cases saw the biggest surge in 10-months. Its December trade balance surplus expanded to $78.17 billion as exports soared 18.1% YoY. House price data is due later today.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 closed up 0.43%, led by a 4.7% gain in the Technology stocks index. New building approvals grew 2.6% MoM, and Home loan data is due later today.

India's Nifty 50 index is trading up by 0.28% at press time, after WPI inflation rose 1.22% in December, falling short of the 1.30% consensus. Manufacturing inflation rose 4.24% YoY.

South Korea's KOSPI closed marginally higher by 0.05%. Trade balance and interest rate decision data is due today.

Europe: Euro Stoxx 50 is trading higher by 0.50% at publication time. The bloc's industrial production rose 2.5% MoM, far higher than the 0.2% consensus. European Central Bank's monetary policy statement is scheduled today.

London's FTSE 100 is trading higher by 0.35%. U.K's House Price Balance showed 65% of respondents had seen an increase in housing prices. 

Germany's DAX is trading higher by 0.40%, driven by gains in banks and automobile stocks.

France's CAC 40 has gained 0.28% at press time and, and Spain's IBEX 35 is up 0.23%.

Forex Trading: U.S. Dollar Index futures are down 0.02% to 90.312. The dollar has strengthened by 0.02% against the Euro and 0.16% against the Japanese Yen but lost 0.02% against the Chinese Yuan and 0.08% against the Sterling Pound.

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