The US will host a regular Fed meeting today - 27.1.2021

On Tuesday, the US dollar index dropped slightly within the neutral trend, which has continued for the third week in a row. 90 points are a psychological support level for it. Investors await today's Fed meeting and comments from its chairman, Jerome Powell. No rate change (0.25%) is expected. An increase in the Fed’s quantitative easing (asset buy-back) may become a negative factor for the American currency, at the same time an increase in corporate taxes, thereby the reduction in the government deficits can be a positive factor. In Australia, inflation data for the 4th quarter (+ 0.9% yoy), were released this morning, exceeding the forecast (+ 0.7%). This caused a slight decline in the Australian dollar. The euro also fell slightly due to the weak consumer confidence in Germany (Gfk Consumer Confidence) for February (-15.6, forecast -7.9). Before the Fed meeting, the US durable goods orders for December will be released today. The forecast is neutral.

On Tuesday, US stocks dropped. Investors are following corporate reports and looking forward to today's Fed meeting. The S&P 500 is currently traded at a relatively high level (capitalization/12-month projected net income) of 22. So far, 84 companies of the S&P 500 presented their reporting. Of these, 73 companies have exceeded their profit forecasts for the Q4, 2020. Apple, Tesla, Facebook, AT&T and many other companies will come up with their reports in the US today. Yesterday evening, after the closing of official trading, a positive quarterly report of Microsoft (+ 5%) was released. Nevertheless, futures on US stock indices are still traded down today.

World oil prices are slightly higher today. Brent has been traded in a narrow range of $54.5-56.5 per barrel for the third week in a row. Today, oil quotes were supported by a message from China about a reduction in the number of Covid-19 cases. In addition, independent API announced a decrease in US oil reserves for the week by 5.3 million barrels. Official data on stocks will be released today. Another positive factor for the oil market was the increase of the International Monetary Fund's forecast of world GDP growth to 5.5% in 2021 from 5.2%, which was previously expected. The IMF estimates that world oil prices will rise by 20% in 2021 compared to 2020 and will fluctuate around $50 per barrel.