Conte is to offer his resignation in a gambit to get a fresh mandate to form a more viable coalition to lead the country
This has been rumoured all through of yesterday night and is pretty much looking to be the case today. The mess and bewilderment in Italian politics is nothing new to the market,

The greenback pares gains across the board as stocks push higher
Of note, the dollar has almost pared all of its gains against the commodity currencies with NZD/USD bouncing off its 200-hour moving average and lows of 0.7167 to 0.7197 now – just shy of the day’s high of 0.7204.

EU said to hold a virtual meeting with AstraZeneca later at 1130 GMT
From Sky News‘ correspondent, Adam Parsons:
European Union members states will hold a virtual meeting with AstraZeneca at 1230 Brussels time (1130 UK) to express their anger over delays. EU is clear that it provided money so production capacity could have been ramped up

GBP/USD falls from a high of 1.3723 earlier to 1.3668 currently
The drop after failing to hold yet another break above 1.3700 – at least for a comfortable enough period – sees cable fall back to test its 100-hour moving average (red line) @ 1.3678. Keep below and the near-term bias stays more neutral now.

A bit of a mixed start to the session so far
The dollar has trimmed losses on the day, even pushing higher against the euro, pound and franc currently as we navigate through the first-half of European morning trade.

EUR/USD pares earlier gains but keeps within a narrow range so far today
The pair is now trading down to session lows of 1.2158 but is keeping within a 25 pips range so far today. And that is largely within the realms of what we saw with price action in trading towards the end of last

Comments by Ifo economist, Klaus Wohlrabe
That’s not an encouraging assessment, with the subdued services activity also somewhat reflected by the weaker PMI readings in January last week . If tighter restrictions are prolonged to Easter, a double-dip recession is certainly on the cards.

Rumors fly as WallStreetBets sparks a run on shorts
The balance of power in stock markets has shifted. This week’s drama in the shares of GameStop (GME) is one of the best signs yet that the power of retail traders can’t be doubted.

Forex news for New York trade on
Markets:
– Gold down $15 to $1854
– US 10-year yields down 2 bps to 1.85%
– S&P 500 down 12 points to 3841
– WTI crude down $1 to $52.14
The extremely strong manufacturing and services PMIs from Markit were a reminder that the US economy continues to recover even amongst the

Closing changes for the main markets:
That’s a strange dynamic. It was neither tech nor large caps leading but small caps managed to clock a big gain.
On the week: