1. Taiwan believes China is too distracted to launch an attack
An upcoming party meeting concerning the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping has taken the CCP’s scent off invading Taiwan, for now, according to two senior officials involved in security issues in Taipei. “The Taiwanese government has assessed the current risk of a Chinese attack to be low, even if the U.S. were to be distracted by a war in Eastern Europe, according to the officials, who asked not to be named because they weren’t authorized to discuss security matters publicly. Communist Party leaders were prioritizing domestic stability ahead of a twice-a-decade congress and wouldn’t take any action that could jeopardize Xi’s efforts to secure a third term, the officials said,” Bloomberg reports. Taiwan is keeping a watchful eye on the situation in Ukraine to assess how this could impact their own democratically ruled nation.

2. Doubts about Putin pullback impact stocks
It’s reporting season and Australian companies are reporting better than expected, pushing the stock market up a big 78 points yesterday. But the market is heading down today. And look no further than Vladimir Putin. Yesterday the stock market was not only helped by great profit reports from leading companies such as CSL, Treasury Wines and Corporate Travel Management but by the good news that Russian troops were moving away from the Ukraine border. However, new reports raise doubts about a Putin pullback of his forces and stocks globally have fallen.

3. Inflation in US sparks interest rate rise talk
Another reason for stock market concerns is news that recent inflation data could force the US central bank to raise interest rates by half-a-per cent next month, which could pressure our RBA to raise rates too. Inflation worries in the US have one prominent central bank official recommending a huge 1% increase in interest rates in March. If that happens, stocks will plummet and put pressure on our Reserve Bank to think about raising interest rates sooner than expected. Over this year, US business inflation rose by a huge 9.7%, pushing overall inflation to its fastest growth in 40 years.

4. No jab, no job whispers at BHP
Iron ore miner BHP reported well this week but is set for controversy, with reports saying the company will sack 700 employees who refuse to be vaccinated. In Queensland, 250 workers have been told it will be “no jab no job” unless they’re vaccinated and it’s expected up to 700 workers will be sacked or will retire because of the company’s edict. Federal laws imposing vaccination only apply to essential industries such as residential aged care but WA and the NT have imposed it as a condition for entering a workplace, which BHP has applied to all of its workplaces. In the coming months “no jab no job” will become a huge issue as government work-from-home orders are removed.

5. ASX to dip with more earnings reports ahead
ASX futures down 28 points or 0.4 per cent to 7175 near 5am AEDT, with the AUD +0.5% to 71.83US cents. On Wall St: Dow -0.8% S&P 500 -0.8% Nasdaq -1.2%. 2-year yield: US -0.03% (1.54%) Australia +0.03% (1.20%). 10-year yield: US - - (2.04%) Australia +0.05% (2.23%).