Tech Sector sell-off continues in anticipation of interest rate hikes.

The Dow Jones closed flat after another volatile day. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 finished 2.04% and 0.74% lower respectively, as tech continued its sell-off and the Nasdaq confirmed its Bear market.

The European markets performed a little better as optimism that the worst of Ukraine and Russian conflict may have passed. The FTSE moved up 0.53% and the DAX 2.21%. As the conflict settles, renewed sentiment may return.

Brent crude oil dipped again by 5.5% to USD 106.53 as it continues its pullback from its recent highs. Iron Ore was also 6.2% lower to $144.90 a tonne from the pressure from China and could impact the Australian market. Gold has continued its pullback from its recent highs falling to $1949. Natural gas prices fell across the world with the prospect of another round of talks between Russia and Ukraine, along with wilder weather conditions.

Cryptocurrency looks set to operate under increased regulations. A last-minute attempt by European lawmakers to potentially create a soft ban on Bitcoin failed overnight. The key amendment that would have banned Proof-of-Work distributed ledger technology that is responsible for a considerable amount of carbon emissions. The parliamentary committee will now seek a compromise solution that will address the sustainability of crypto asset mining without discriminating against specific technologies by proposing to include them in the EU Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance. This rule book seeks to classify what kind of investments can be deemed to match Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria.

Bitcoin has continued to hold its support level around $37,500 – 38,000 and the BTC/USD is up 2.40% at 9.50 pm GMT. Ethereum continues to consolidate into a tight range with the ETH/USD going 1.75% lower.

FOREX

The AUD/USD struggled to hold above $0.73 and fell 1.40% to 0.7204%. The USD/EUR continues to consolidate as it reacts to the Ukraine and Russian conflict.

All eyes are still on the Federal Reserve which is expected to raise rates by 25 basis points later this week. The commentary associated with the rates will hopefully give some indication about how hawkish they are and their plans going forward.