The Democratic-held chamber will vote later today to impeach Trump
Following a decline during the previous session, Wall Street stocks finished marginally higher overnight, with investors being cautious ahead of the earnings season. Fourth-quarter earnings will come into focus starting Friday, with results from big banks launching the reporting season. Still, US stock indexes stayed close to all-time highs as market players hope for a rollout of vaccines and a big boost to public spending. As such, the benchmark S&P 500 index gained just 0.04%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.19%, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.28%.
In Asia, equities were mixed on Wednesday amid cautious optimism about additional U.S. fiscal stimulus. On the political front, the Democratic-held chamber will vote later today to impeach Trump. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index in Australia erased early losses to finish 0.11% higher despite rising coronavirus cases in the Australian state of Queensland. The Japanese market also recovered after a weak start, with Nikkei 225 adding over 1%. Meanwhile, China’s Shanghai Composite shed 0.27% during the session.
European stock markets opened little changed today, keeping track of coronavirus developments in the region. On the negative side, the German health minister said it will not be possible to lift all restrictions in February, and the country needs to reduce contacts for another two or three months. On the data front, the German wholesale price index rose 0.6% in December versus +0.1% m/m prior.
Meanwhile, the dollar came back under the selling pressure on Wednesday. However, EURUSD failed to challenge the 20-DMA and retreated in recent trading, having turned slightly negative on the day. Later today, the US CPI data for December could affect USD pairs. The consumer price index is set to show a pickup of 0.4% on the month and 1.3% annually up from 0.2% and 1.2% in November. The euro now needs to overcome the mentioned moving average (today at 1.2225) in order to extend the recovery.
