On Tuesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell highlighted the importance of autonomy in monetary policy and the need for transparency in order to meet the Fed's goals and earn the trust of the public and Congress. Investors are hoping for a reduction in interest rates, and the World Bank's prediction for economic growth in 2023 has warned of potential dangers should the central bank continue to raise rates. Currently, their projection for the upcoming February meeting is a 25 basis point increase.

EQUITY

Despite Amazon and parts of the healthcare industry helping the S&P 500 climb 0.7%, there were warnings that the short-term euphoria was due to job cuts at large companies and is not sustainable. Tesla has submitted a request to expand its Gigafactory, although its share price has declined in recent months.

GOLD

Gold prices rose to an 8-month peak on Wednesday as investors speculated that the Federal Reserve would reduce the speed of its interest rate hikes and the dollar would decline further. Expectations of cooling labour market activity and lower inflation could also support this outlook, providing a favourable climate for non-yielding assets such as gold.

OIL

OPEC and its allies intend to keep supply constraints in place until the first quarter of 2023. In January, the group will discuss any potential changes to their production strategy. Oil prices were weighed down by a significant increase in US inventories as well as the risk of a recession.

CURRENCY

Asian currency markets weakened on Wednesday as investors avoided risky assets ahead of this week's inflation readings, with the dollar index and dollar index futures trading 0.1% higher against a basket of currencies. The Australian dollar was a notable exception, rising 0.3% and remaining close to a four-month high after the country's inflation data hit 30-year highs.