US stocks opened higher today, marking the start of the week packed with major central bank meetings alongside inflation prints that will help guide market sentiment in regard to monetary policy outlook until Q2. The narrative spoken by policymakers will be crucial in this context. The Fed's previous market dovishness could add to volatility in market moves if Fed speakers are more hawkish than what investors anticipate. The dollar index remained mostly unchanged at 103.52 while the 10-year US Treasury yield edged higher to 4.36%.
Elsewhere, China's key indicators of industrial performance and fixed asset investment outperformed expectations, while the service sector performed in line with expectations. That prompted iron ore futures to jump back above the $100/mt level. However, the base metals complex had little reaction to the news. Copper fluctuated above $9,000/t, further solidifying the support at this level. While we expect the rally to correct itself slightly in the near term, we anticipate that investors will struggle to maintain prices below the $8,800-9,000/t area. Likewise, aluminium futures edged higher, close to testing the robust resistance of $2,300/t. Lead and zinc continued to weaken, following the mean-reversion trend down to $2,090/t and $2,532/t, respectively.
Gold experienced some fluctuation today but ultimately recorded a slight increase, reaching $2,159/oz. In contrast, silver saw a minor decline, falling below $25.10/oz. The oil market began the week on a strong note, with prices rising following reports of Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries. According to Reuters, these attacks have resulted in a 7% reduction in Russian refining capacity since the beginning of the year. WTI and Brent Crude both traded higher, with prices reaching $82.23/bl and $86.40/bl, respectively.
All price data is from 18.03.2024 as of 17:30