Today saw a surge in risk appetite following the post-close rally in US tech stocks following Nvidia's earnings report. This momentum has driven the Nikkei to close at record highs, marking a 2.2% increase. Additionally, Europe's Stoxx 600 has rebounded, rising over 0.5% to recover from slight losses observed in the past two sessions. US indices are expected to open higher, indicating a positive start to the trading day.
Concurrently, the dollar has weakened across the board, with the euro, sterling, and Australian dollar reaching their highest levels since the February 2 US employment report.
This decline in the dollar has supported the continued upward movement of gold prices, marking its sixth consecutive session of gains.
April WTI crude oil is trading with a slight upward bias, lingering just below this week's high.

Asia Pacific
Japan's preliminary PMI disappointed, with the February manufacturing PMI easing to 47.2, the lowest since August 2020. The dollar saw some gains against the yen, buoyed by rising US yields and further supported by a lukewarm response to the 20-year bond sale.
Australia, however, experienced a decline in its manufacturing sector in February, with the PMI falling below 50 to 47.7 from 50.1 in January. Despite snapping a five-day advance yesterday, the Australian dollar has rebounded today.

Europe 
The preliminary February PMI suggests that while the pace of contraction in the eurozone is moderating, growth remains tepid. The manufacturing PMI slipped for the first time in four months, dropping to 46.1 from 46.6. Nevertheless, the euro has extended its recovery for the seventh consecutive session, trading between approximately $1.0695 and today's high of almost $1.0890.
Sterling briefly surpassed $1.2700 for the first time since February 2, meeting the (61.8%) retracement objective of this year's decline.

America 
The latest FOMC minutes revealed that more officials are concerned about the risks of easing too early than waiting too long.
The economic calendar for North America is busy today, with weekly jobless claims expected to be influenced by inclement weather. The preliminary February PMI is anticipated to show little change but still indicate a divergence with Europe and Japan. According to Bloomberg's survey, there is a median forecast for nearly a 5% rise in January existing home sales, marking the best performance since the surge observed last February (13.75%) and potentially recovering the decline seen in Q4 2023.