Global Markets Rejoice Janet Yellen's Call For Stimulus, Dollar Weakens, Bitcoin Back At $35K

Major indices worldwide traded higher on Wednesday following the next U.S. Treasury secretary nominee Janet Yellen’s comments calling for a bigger stimulus package on Tuesday.

Futures: The Dow futures are up by 0.11%, and the S&P 500 futures are trading higher by 1.06% on the last check Wednesday. WTI crude futures are up by 1.23% to $53.63, and gold futures are trading higher by 0.79% at $1,854.70. Ten-year Treasury yield is unchanged at 1.092%. The VIX futures are up by 8.07% to 25.10.

Cryptocurrency: Bitcoin is trading lower by 5.72% at $35,166 on the last check, and Ethereum is down 1.73% at $1,355.70 after hitting a new all-time high. Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, and it has been buoyed by an ecosystem of decentralized finance.

Asia: Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed lower by 0.38%, as gains in mining stocks were more than offset by losses in airlines and banks stocks. Japan has a busy economic calendar for Wednesday with PPI, trade balance, and foreign investment data in focus. Tentatively, the Bank of Japan could release the interest rate decision today.

See also: How to Invest Your $1,400 Stimulus Check

China’s Shanghai Composite closed higher by 0.47% after People’s Bank of China kept the prime loan rate unchanged at 3.85%. Commodity and industrial stocks rose on Wednesday, partially offset by a fall in bank stocks.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed higher by 0.41%, near its 11-month high, on optimism from domestic corporate earnings. The continent’s unemployment data is due today.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.08%. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE: BABA) shares gained 8.5% in Hong Kong after its founder Jack Ma made an online public appearance after months.

India’s Nifty 50 index is trading up by 0.92%, driven by gains in autos, PSU banks, and technology shares. Tata Motors TTM rallied 6.2% at press time after the company announced securing 98 patents related to connected and electric vehicles.

South Korea’s KOSPI advanced 0.71%, with PPI data in focus.

Europe: Euro Stoxx 50 is trading higher by 0.51% at publication time. The bloc’s economic sentiment for January rose to 58.3, and November construction output grew 1.41% month-over-month. CPI data is scheduled to release today.

London’s FTSE 100 is trading near flat at press time following December CPI growth of 0.3% MoM and PPI input growth of 0.8% MoM.

Germany’s DAX is trading higher by 0.59% after December PPI grew 0.8% MoM. Automobile stocks are pushing the index up with Daimler AG DDAIF up 2.1%, as Warburg Research analyst Marc Rene Tonn maintained a Buy rating on the stock.

France’s CAC 40 is up 0.49%, and Spain’s IBEX 35 is trading higher by 0.12% at publication time.

Forex Trading: U.S. Dollar Index futures are down 0.06% to 90.422. The dollar has weakened by 0.46% against the Sterling Pound, 0.10% against the Japanese Yen, and 0.15% against the Chinese Yuan, but gained 0.03% against the Euro.

For news coverage in Italian or Spanish, check out Benzinga Italia and Benzinga España.