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Yesterday, US stock indices continued to rise for the 6th day in a row. Investors believe that high inflation will increase corporate revenue. Recall that the rise in producer prices (the United States Producer Price Index) in February reached a record for 40 years and amounted to 10% y/y. The Fed rate (+0.5%) is far behind US inflation (+7.9 y/y in February). This hinders the strengthening of the US currency. Today, oil quotes are rising due to an accident at an oil export terminal in Russia on the Black Sea. This could cut Russian oil exports by 1 million barrels per day (B/D) for some time.

On Tuesday, the US dollar index remained almost unchanged. During the day there was a good attempt to grow it, which then failed. U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell expressed concern about high US inflation (+7.9 y/y in February). Investors decided that the American regulator could raise the rate (+0.5%) at the next meeting on May 4 immediately by another 0.5%. According to CME FedWatch, the probability of such an event is now 66%. Since the next meeting of the Fed will not be soon, the US dollar index did not have enough market positive to grow by the end of yesterday. There was no significant economic data in the US on Tuesday. February's New Home Sales will be released today. The outlook is neutral.

Bitcoin went up a little yesterday. The players finally believed that the US authorities are not going to ban the cryptocurrency market, but are only developing new rules for its regulation. Prior to this, there were few concerns against the background of the introduction of anti-Russian sanctions. However, instead of severe restrictions on the entire crypto market, the US Department of the Treasury is now considering a bill only for the targeted blocking of suspicious cryptocurrency transfers.

Yesterday, US stock indices continued to rise for the 6th day in a row. Investors believe that high inflation will increase corporate revenue. Recall that the rise in producer prices (the United States Producer Price Index) in February reached a record for 40 years and amounted to 10% y/y. Against the background of the approval of the crypto market by the US authorities, the shares of the main companies of the "digital economy" Apple (+3.4%), Microsoft, Amazon.com (+2.1%), Alphabet, Tesla (+7.9%), Adobe (+ 2.8%) and Meta Platforms (+2.4%). The launch of a new giant factory for the production of electric vehicles in Germany also contributed to the increase in Tesla quotes. In addition, thanks to the increase in Fed rates, shares of the financial sector rose in price. Quotes of Wells Fargo added 4.4%.

On Tuesday, oil quotes were slightly corrected. This was facilitated by the statement of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz about the need to take into account the “effects, which will only get more dramatic every day” (reverse effect) of anti-Russian sanctions. Market participants decided that the European Union would not abandon Russian hydrocarbons. Today, oil quotes are rising due to an accident at an oil export terminal in Russia on the Black Sea. This could cut Russian oil exports by 1 million barrels per day (bpd) for some time. Another positive factor was the statement by Saudi Arabia that, due to the conflict with Yemen, it does not bear any responsibility for a possible decrease in its oil production. Recall that Saudi Arabia is the world's largest oil exporter. Russia is in 2nd place and Iraq is in 3rd place. An additional positive for the quotes was the announcement of the American Petroleum Institute on the reduction of oil reserves in the US for the week by 4.3 million barrels. Natural gas in the United States rose markedly on the back of record LNG exports and declining reserves.

Quotes of precious metals fell yesterday. This was facilitated by investors' expectations of a further increase in the Fed rate and an increase in the US 10-year Treasury yield to 2.417% per annum. This is the highest since May 2019. Today, precious metals are supported by rumors about the plans of the US Senate and the US Treasury to block the sale of physical gold by Russia as part of the expansion of economic sanctions. Recall that the Bank of Russia has in its reserves about 74 million ounces (about 2302 tons) of gold.