Cryptos: All News & Analysis

Fed and earnings bring cautious optimism

A quiet start to what will otherwise be a lively week in financial markets with particular focus on the US as the Fed meets Wednesday and big tech report earnings. Stock markets are modestly in the green, with a fair amount of straw clutching at play once more. Earnings not being as bad as feared, the Fed only hiking by 75 basis points and China putting together a plan in the hope of averting the next wave of the property crisis is among the reasons being given for stock markets rising.

25-07-2022 08:56 GMT by Craig Erlam

FOMC week finally

Will FOMC opt for 75bp hike? This month has dragged on and seems to be lasting forever. One reason could be that it is my last full month as a keyboard warrior, toiling as the voice of reason as I try to make sense of the nonsense in the financial markets.

25-07-2022 04:21 GMT by Jeffrey Halley

Mid-Market Update: Global PMIs collapse, Relief Rally will be tested next week, Mixed Earnings, Oil finds support, Gold shines, Bitcoin steadies

US stocks are under pressure as recession fears run wild as business activity contracts and the labor market shows signs of weakness. Wall Street is seeing mixed earnings as social media companies are seeing softer advertising revenues, the US consumer is struggling to pay their phone bills, while American Express says their premium customers are more resilient to inflation. The US consumer is quickly weakening and if the job market cools quickly, the market will start to fear a recession coul

22-07-2022 12:18 GMT by Edward Moya

A busy day for central banks

A plethora of central bank meetings and the scheduled maintenance completion of Nord Stream 1 have guaranteed another frantic session in financial markets on Thursday. Where do we begin on a day like today? The resumption of gas flows through Nord Stream 1 at levels seen before the maintenance work began has come as a huge relief to European countries unable to easily cope without it.

21-07-2022 11:44 GMT by Craig Erlam

Stocks chop, ECB abandons negative rates, bitcoin says, “Et tu, Musk?”

Wall Street is struggling to find reasons to be optimistic as investors digest a wrath of mixed corporate earnings, Russia resumes Nord Stream 1 gas flows, and the ECB acts aggressively with its first rate hike in 11 years. The earnings standout was Tesla, which posted strong earnings and kept its production forecast.

21-07-2022 11:22 GMT by Edward Moya

Another bear market rally

Stock markets have given back earlier gains on Wednesday, with Europe poised to end the day with decent losses ahead of tomorrow's ECB meeting. There have been two big focal points for European investors this week; the ECB meeting and Nord Stream 1. And in both cases, there has been a lot of movement.

20-07-2022 11:25 GMT by Craig Erlam

Earnings push stocks higher, building permits decline, euro rallies as markets expect half-point ECB hike, bitcoin tries to hold USD 22k

US stocks are rallying as corporate earnings haven’t been terrible and on optimism that Russia won’t delay the restart of gas flows on Nord Stream 1 pipeline. Earnings have been coming in mixed but nothing too terrible that is unnerving investors.

19-07-2022 13:43 GMT by Edward Moya

Choppy trade ahead of ECB

Stock markets are understandably choppy so far this week, as Europe posts small gains with Italy being the outlier up more than 1%. It's shaping up to be a critical week for Europe, with Brussels nervously waiting to see whether gas flows will resume following the completed maintenance of Nord Stream 1 on Thursday. That's the same day that the central bank will be weighing up a 25 or 50 basis point rate hike to combat soaring inflation in the bloc.

19-07-2022 10:46 GMT by Craig Erlam

Bank earnings keep rally mode going, homebuilder sentiment plunges, bitcoin bottom

Wall Street is starting to find its footing as investor Fed tightening fears eased and after both strong banking earnings from Goldman Sachs and Bank of America. It is the blackout period for the Fed and it seems last week’s comments from Bostic and Bullard were enough to convince markets a 100 basis-point hike is not justified right now. Bank Earnings Shares for both Goldman Sachs and Bank of America are off to a good start after strong results and no immediate announcements on curtailing their

18-07-2022 13:35 GMT by Edward Moya

Clutching at straws

It's not hard to see what the theme of today's note is going to be and for good reason when you see stock markets making punchy gains again in spite of the months that lie ahead. Maybe the heat is getting to everyone - getting closer to 40C here in London and my fan just isn't cutting it - or perhaps the doom and gloom has become a bit tiresome but the two-day rally we've seen on the back of so little looks a little hopeful to me. As ever, I'll caveat this with the fact that stock markets are se

18-07-2022 12:08 GMT by Craig Erlam

Bear market rally back on?

Wall Street rises as US data outperforms It says something about the level of confusion in the markets right now (American markets anyway), that having wrung their hands all last about inflation, 100 basis point rate hikes by the Fed, and an impending recession, that strong US Retail Sales and Michigan Consumer Sentiment on Friday saw Wall Street rally impressively. If that data had come out on Tuesday or Wednesday last week, we would probably have had a meltdown.

18-07-2022 03:02 GMT by Jeffrey Halley

US Close - Stocks rally on strong retail sales and earnings, Oil jumps, Gold hovers around $1700, Bitcoin joins risk rally

US stocks rallied as investors grow optimistic that signs are emerging that inflation is slowing, consumer spending remains healthy, and on a better second day of earnings. There still remains a good chance that we will see stocks make fresh lows, but now appears to be the time for some traders to test the waters. The Atlanta Fed GDPnow was cut again, now seeing second quarter GDP at -1.2%, which would signal the economy is in a technical recession.

15-07-2022 14:50 GMT by Edward Moya

Fed Restores Calm Ahead of Blackout Period

It's been another turbulent week in financial markets and there's still time for another wave of volatility in the final hours of trade. It's not just inflation that's running red hot right now, with Mediterranean weather forecasts here in the UK giving everyone another reason to look forward to the weekend. Naturally, I'm fully expecting a chorus of complaints about it being too hot after it previously being too mild, which feels strangely familiar at this point. The US inflation report on Wedn

15-07-2022 09:17 GMT by Craig Erlam

The ship has sailed

Stock markets staged a surprisingly good recovery following the inflation data on Wednesday but that wasn't enough to stop them from ending the day in the red or starting today in a similar position. Recession fears have fully gripped the markets and central banks are left with little alternative but to tighten aggressively into it. The CPI data yesterday was the latest in a long list of disappointing releases from the US and the result is that it's now a coin toss between a 75 and 100 basis poi

14-07-2022 09:45 GMT by Craig Erlam

Inflation feeling hot hot hot, Fed rate path confirmed, BOC surprise, bitcoin hovers above USD 19k

Ole-ole – ole ole. Ole ole -ole ole. Me gas prices on fire – Me food bill on fire – Inflation feeling hot hot hot! Fed hawks – All around me feeling hot hot hot! When you hear the Merrymen’s hit song ‘Feeling Hot Hot Hot’, you normally think of partying somewhere tropical, but today it does the job in summing up today’s inflation report. Inflation remains scorching hot.

13-07-2022 13:14 GMT by Edward Moya

On the ropes

Equity markets are tumbling again on Wednesday as the latest batch of inflation data delivered another heavy blow to sentiment. Every month investors eagerly await the CPI report for any sign that the inflation problem is easing and they are almost always left deflated by the data. Today feels like one of the biggest blows yet and given how aggressive the Fed is already being and the increase in recession talk in recent weeks, it's a tough one to recover from. It may not prove to be the knockout

13-07-2022 11:38 GMT by Craig Erlam

Big Wednesday

It may not be monster surf breaks in Hawaii or Uluwatu in Bali, but today is shaping up to be a stormy day for markets, with plenty of chances to get dumped and held under the waves for a while. We have already had two central banks in Asia raise policy rates this morning, with the Bank of Korea and Reserve Bank of New Zealand hiking by 0.50%, with a hawkish tone in their statements.

13-07-2022 04:52 GMT by Jeffrey Halley

Choppy waters for stocks ahead of US inflation report, small businesses are hurting, euro falls to parity against dollar, bitcoin below USD 20k

Stocks might be struggling for direction ahead of a pivotal inflation report, but global growth concerns continue to make rates comes in as the Treasury curve inversion gets deeper. The June inflation report will be a scorcher and help cement market expectations that the Fed will deliver another massive rate hike at the Fed policy meeting at the end of the month.

12-07-2022 14:45 GMT by Edward Moya

Unease ahead of US inflation

Another day of significant unease in financial markets as investors nervously await US inflation data and the start of earnings season. The economic calendar goes up a couple of gears tomorrow, with RBNZ and BoC rate decisions bookending the US inflation data. Fifty basis point rate hikes are now the norm and the debate has shifted to how super-sized they'll be, with a stronger US CPI number tomorrow potentially cementing another 75 from the Fed in a couple of weeks. In anticipation of that, inv

12-07-2022 10:11 GMT by Craig Erlam

Oil slips, Gold tumbles, bitcoin struggling

Oil pares losses Oil prices are slipping again on Monday, although it has recovered the bulk of the losses from earlier in the day. Recession fears are increasingly driving these markets and that's one reality that could limit the rise in oil prices over the medium term. The prospect of further Covid restrictions in China is a near-term headwind for crude prices, also, which could see them trade closer to $100 a barrel as we saw earlier this year. Joe Biden's trip to Saudi Arabia this weekend

11-07-2022 19:00 GMT by Craig Erlam

Cryptos: all news & analysis