The CAD is the strongest and the JPY is the weakest to start the NA session

The CAD is the strongest and the JPY is the weakest as the North American session begins. The USD is starting the day mixed with modest up gains vs the EUR, JPY, CHF and declines vs the CAD, AUD and NZD. The GBPUSD is little changed.

EU flash CPI came in higher than expected at 5.8% (vs 5.6% expected) while the core was also higher at 2.7% (vs 2.6% est).

The anxiety of the Russian/Ukraine conflict continues. President Biden in his State of the Union vowed to make Putin “pay a price” for the invasion and that Putin would regret the decision for sending his forces into Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russian troops are positioning troops around the the Capital city of Kyiv (the 40 mile convoy continues with infrastructure problems slowing things down or so it seems), and are also “laying siege” to Kharkiv. Russian troops are still battling with Ukrainian forces to hold the southern city of Kherson.

Meanwhile private companies are adding to the pressure by taking their own actions against Russia (see the growing list of companies below who have announced measures).

The Bank of Canada is meeting today, and will likely announce a 25 basis point rise at 10 AM ET. The USDCAD is a little lower perhaps in anticipation after yesterday’s run up that saw the price stall against the near converged 100/200 hour MAs at 1.2743.

Fed chair Powell will testify in front of the House financial services committee on Capitol Hill today and in front of the House tomorrow. With the stock market rates coming off sharply on flight to safety flows, so has the expectations for a potential 50 basis point hike at the March meeting. Nevertheless, there are some Fed members who still see a potential hike of that magnitude. Given Powell’s history, it would seem that he would likely look to start raising rates in March, but only by 25 basis points. Traders will be hanging on his words for clues to his intentions and also his views on inflation as commodity price soar on Russian/Ukraine developments. The testimony is to begin at 10 AM ET.

OPEC is meeting (well the meeting just ended), and are largely expected to keep the production increases at the 400,000 barrels per day. That is not helping the price of oil which is trading at $109.46.

In other economic news today:

• The ADP report is expected to announce a rise in jobs of 388K versus -301K last month. Recall that sharp decline did not exactly play through to the nonfarm payroll number. Nonfarm payroll in January rose by 467K. Recent data from the ADP and the BLS have been quite different. As a result, whatever comes up from the ADP report released at 8:15 AM will likely not lead to much of a overall reaction by the market
• The crude oil inventory data is expected to show a 2.8 million build with gasoline inventories expected to show a -1.4 million drawdown. However, the private data released late yesterday, showed a huge drawdown (instead of a build) in crude oil of -6.1M barrels, while gasoline inventories showed a larger than expected drawdown of -2.5M barrels

A snapshot of other markets as the North American session gets underway shows:

• Spot  gold 
  Gold
  
  Gold is the most widely traded and important commodity. Prized for its historical importance and used for trading an exchange of goods, the gold market today is estimated at nearly $2.4 trillion.The value of gold fluctuates constantly, as it trades on public exchanges where it has a price that is determined by supply and demand. Gold has historically had tremendous significance and even today is extremely sought after. Gold has been used as a currency as it doesn’t corrode, and the material allows for some absorption of light creating a yellow glow, which lends the name yellow metal.Ultimately, institutional and retail investors buy and sell gold contracts or physical gold, thus creating the demand and supply flow.This can be pure speculation, to acquire or distribute physical gold, or as a hedge for commercial application. For day-traders, the purpose of trading gold is to profit from its daily price movements.How to Trade GoldDay-trading gold is speculating on its short-term price movements. Of note, physical gold is not actually handled or taken possession of, rather the transactions take place electronically and only profits or losses are reflected in the trading account.There are a number of ways to ultimately trade gold. Retail brokers typically offer exposure to gold through contracts-for-difference (CFDs).Beyond retail brokers, the main way to trade gold is via a futures contract. This represents an agreement to buy or sell something, i.e. gold at a future date. Buying a gold futures contract doesn’t mean you actually have to take possession of the physical commodity.Day traders close out all contracts (trades) each day and make a profit based on the difference between the price they bought the contract and the price they sold it at. However, on a futures exchange, gold moves in $0.10 increments only. This increment is known as a tick. It is the smallest movement a futures contract can make. If you buy or sell a futures contract, how many ticks the price moves away from your entry price determines your profit or loss.
  
  Gold is the most widely traded and important commodity. Prized for its historical importance and used for trading an exchange of goods, the gold market today is estimated at nearly $2.4 trillion.The value of gold fluctuates constantly, as it trades on public exchanges where it has a price that is determined by supply and demand. Gold has historically had tremendous significance and even today is extremely sought after. Gold has been used as a currency as it doesn’t corrode, and the material allows for some absorption of light creating a yellow glow, which lends the name yellow metal.Ultimately, institutional and retail investors buy and sell gold contracts or physical gold, thus creating the demand and supply flow.This can be pure speculation, to acquire or distribute physical gold, or as a hedge for commercial application. For day-traders, the purpose of trading gold is to profit from its daily price movements.How to Trade GoldDay-trading gold is speculating on its short-term price movements. Of note, physical gold is not actually handled or taken possession of, rather the transactions take place electronically and only profits or losses are reflected in the trading account.There are a number of ways to ultimately trade gold. Retail brokers typically offer exposure to gold through contracts-for-difference (CFDs).Beyond retail brokers, the main way to trade gold is via a futures contract. This represents an agreement to buy or sell something, i.e. gold at a future date. Buying a gold futures contract doesn’t mean you actually have to take possession of the physical commodity.Day traders close out all contracts (trades) each day and make a profit based on the difference between the price they bought the contract and the price they sold it at. However, on a futures exchange, gold moves in $0.10 increments only. This increment is known as a tick. It is the smallest movement a futures contract can make. If you buy or sell a futures contract, how many ticks the price moves away from your entry price determines your profit or loss.
  Read this Term is giving up some/most of the gains from yesterday. The price is down -$18.30 or -0.97% at $1925.91
• Spot  silver 
  Silver
  
  Silver is a precious metal that is commonly traded on exchanges or through brokers. It is much more affordable than gold and thanks to its importance as an industrial metal as well as volatility, is widely traded.For precious metals traders, gold is a much more popular market. Big institutions buy gold as a currency hedge when real interest rates and yields on other assets become unacceptably low. Central banks will buy gold, not silver, as a reserve asset to diversify their currency exposure.Instead, silver functions more heavily as a commodity than a currency. Silver, also known as the white metal, is commonly linked with gold and the relationship between the two often dictates its price. The entire silver market is worth about only $540 billion currently, which makes it much smaller than other markets.Despite its smaller size in market share, the price of silver can oscillate strongly without a lot of money moving into it.The supply of silver grows only by only 1 to 3 percent each year, and about half the market is consumed through industrial use (unlike gold, which is more limited in how it’s used).As of August 2020, there are 19.2 billion ounces of silver reserves globally (meeting certain purity standards) against 1.83 billion ounces of gold reserves.How to Trade SilverThe most common way for retail traders to get exposure to silver is through exchange-traded-funds (ETFs) or contracts-for-difference (CFDs). Both are typical offerings at retail brokerages.Investing in silver CFDs saves you the inconvenience of paying for silver storage. Moreover, CFDs give you the opportunity to trade silver in both directions. Many retail investors prefer trading silver through CFDs with brokers as there is no large fee for physical delivery or commission that can erode potential profits.
  
  Silver is a precious metal that is commonly traded on exchanges or through brokers. It is much more affordable than gold and thanks to its importance as an industrial metal as well as volatility, is widely traded.For precious metals traders, gold is a much more popular market. Big institutions buy gold as a currency hedge when real interest rates and yields on other assets become unacceptably low. Central banks will buy gold, not silver, as a reserve asset to diversify their currency exposure.Instead, silver functions more heavily as a commodity than a currency. Silver, also known as the white metal, is commonly linked with gold and the relationship between the two often dictates its price. The entire silver market is worth about only $540 billion currently, which makes it much smaller than other markets.Despite its smaller size in market share, the price of silver can oscillate strongly without a lot of money moving into it.The supply of silver grows only by only 1 to 3 percent each year, and about half the market is consumed through industrial use (unlike gold, which is more limited in how it’s used).As of August 2020, there are 19.2 billion ounces of silver reserves globally (meeting certain purity standards) against 1.83 billion ounces of gold reserves.How to Trade SilverThe most common way for retail traders to get exposure to silver is through exchange-traded-funds (ETFs) or contracts-for-difference (CFDs). Both are typical offerings at retail brokerages.Investing in silver CFDs saves you the inconvenience of paying for silver storage. Moreover, CFDs give you the opportunity to trade silver in both directions. Many retail investors prefer trading silver through CFDs with brokers as there is no large fee for physical delivery or commission that can erode potential profits.
  Read this Term is down $-0.30 at $25.03
• Crude oil is trading at 110.28 up $6.80 on the day
• Bitcoin is trading at $44030 down marginally after yesterday’s run higher.
• Wheat is trading at $10.59 which is up from the up-limit level of $9.84 yesterday. The price is at the highest level since 2008
• Corn is trading at $7.29 up marginally from the up-limit level of $7.25 yesterday. The price is off the high at $7.47