Between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day, Apple App Store sales escalated by double digits, compared to the same period a year before. In 2021, the Apple app store produced $60 billion in income for app developers. Since its inception in 2008, the App Store has produced over $260 billion in revenue, with the Apple store being one of the key pillars of the tech tycoon’s success.

MACROECONOMIC DATA ANALYSIS

The central bank of Japan, the Bank of Japan (BOJ), is expected to raise its price projection next week as the impact of increasing raw material costs being transferred to end consumers, but it will reiterate its commitment to maintain ultra-loose monetary policy with inflation significantly below its target of 2%.

Increased immigration is needed in Germany to avoid significant labor shortages weakening productivity and jeopardizing a successful energy transition, according to the country's economy minister, as Europe's largest economy faces a demographic catastrophe. As stated by one of the leaders of the Greens party, Robert Habeck, “If we don't close that gap, we will have real productivity problems.”

CURRENCIES

The U.S. dollar fell to its lowest level against key rival currencies since mid-November, after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell pointed out that it could take several months to decide whether to reduce the central bank's $9 trillion balance sheet. The dollar index traded 0.08% lower to 95.545.

GOLD

Gold futures traded higher on early Wednesday trading sessions, driven by a weaker U.S dollar. Following US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's less hawkish tone and indication that the central bank will handle inflation, investors are shifting their emphasis towards US inflation data for interest rate hike speculations. Gold futures inched 0.09% higher to $1,820.05 per ounce.

OIL

Crude oil prices remained stable on early trading sessions of Wednesday, fueled by significant increases the day before when the chairman of the US Federal Reserve hinted that the central bank would hike rates at a slower rate than expected. The rise is also driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant of the coronavirus. Brent futures were up 0.07% to $83.78 per barrel, while WTI crude futures jumped rose 0.30% to $81.42 per barrel.

INDICES

USA: S&P500 +0.22%, Dow Jones Industrial Average +0.51%, Nasdaq Composite +0.35 %

Europe: FTSE 100 +0.62%, DAX +0.36%, CAC 40 +0.95%

Asia: Nikkei 225 +1.92%, Hang Seng +2.47%, CSI 300 +1.00%, Nifty 50 +0.75%