Good morning. US stock futures dipped in Thursday morning trading as traders continue to process comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and await key employment data.

"Pessimism and optimism always swing to extremes. If you can latch on to one of those extremes and bet the other way, that generally works pretty well"

David Kelly

Top News

Biden moves head with "wealth tax" plan

•  As part of a set of proposed tax increases on affluent individuals and corporations, US President Joe Biden is expected to urge Congress to impose a minimum 25% tax on billionaires.

• Biden's proposed tax plan would also nearly double the capital gains tax for investment from 20% to 39.6%, and lift income levies on corporations and wealthy Americans according to reports from Bloomberg.

China's inflation eases

• China's inflation eased in February as cautious consumer sentiment persisted despite the lifting of pandemic controls last year.

• According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the consumer price index for February was 1% higher than a year earlier as compared with the 2.1% annual rise seen in January.

EU-US to discuss free trade 

• US President Joe Biden and President of the European Union Ursula von der Leyen are expected to initiate talks aimed at granting the European Union a status similar to that of a free-trade agreement.

• According to a recently published Reuters report, the US and EU were working to make European minerals eligible for tax credits under the $430 billion US Inflation Reduction Act.

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In Other News

When banking on crypto goes wrong...

•  Silvergate Capital announced plans to shut down operations and liquidate its bank after losing billions in deposits due to the decline in the crypto market.

• After the collapse of crypto exchange FTX in late 2022, Silvergate posted nearly a billion dollar loss and saw its total deposits from digital asset customers decline to $3.8 billion from $11.9 billion through its fourth quarter.

Why not list in London? 

• The UK's Finance Ministry announced it would be conducting a review to explore ways to enhance investor research on companies to encourage more public listings in London.

• According to the Ministry, concerns have been raised in recent times about the quality and quantity of research produced in Britain, particularly for tech and life sciences.

Slow riding for Peloton imports  

• The US International Trade Commission prohibited the importation of video streaming fitness equipment produced by Peloton Interactive and iFit Inc, following a ruling that the products violated patents owned by Dish Network.

• In a 2021 complaint, Dish and its Sling TV Unit accused Peloton and iFit of infringing 4 patents for video-streaming technology through imports of products that stream at-home fitness content.

Key Economic Events

• Thursday - No Major Economic News

• Friday - US Unemployment Rate

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