Forex News February 08, 2022

China

The plunge protection squad to the rescue. Typically, this helps to indicate a bottom in Chinese equities, but given the global background at the time, it is a bit difficult to determine.

At the very least, there appears to be some semblance of a soft bottom. Despite coming off a low of 4,522 – which would have been a 2.4 percent decrease – the CSI 300 index dipped by 0.6 percent today, finishing the day at 4,608 in the late hours.

After the US included several Chinese firms in an “unverified list,” China demanded that the US remedy its mistakes.

The customary verbal battle between the two parties

It’s nothing more than a pointless spat between the two on a regular basis. The US will continue to blacklist non-critical Chinese enterprises and officials, and China will retaliate with a barrage of heated rhetorical vitriol. All for the sake of the spectacle.

ECB

Pablo Hernandez de Cos, ECB policymaker: Recent inflation data has shown a surprising upwards trend.

Inflation risks are leaning to the upside, especially in the short term.

There is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding inflation.

Policy changes must be progressive and data-driven.

Inflation is unlikely to stay above 2% in the medium term

De Cos made a few remarks there. There aren’t many valuable insights here, since this only repeats similar views expressed following Lagarde’s press address last week. At the very least, he’s not pushing back as Kazaks and Knot did yesterday.

WTI

• The price of WTI crude oil has dropped below $90 in a short period of time.
• Oil is currently down more than 2% on the day.
• French President Emmanuel Macron’s statements may act as a catalyst, but I don’t see anything in them to imply that tensions between Russia and Ukraine are easing. Not after the Kremlin had already issued its own message.
• However, as previously stated, oil may be showing symptoms of tiredness following seven weeks of rises, so any retreat might be brief. Keep an eye on the 200-hour moving average, which is currently at $88.86, to see if buyers are still willing to push higher in the coming sessions.