Cryptos: All News & Analysis

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

Wall Street focused on inflation and earnings, stock investors brace for bad updates, crypto pessimism

US stocks are in for a rough start to the trading week as Wall Street braces for a wrath of downgraded corporate outlooks alongside what will likely be another hot inflation report. Inflation is ‘public enemy number one’ and that will continue to drive fears that the Fed will aggressively tighten policy and send the US economy quickly into a recession. This is a massive week on Wall Street as Fed expectations for the July 27th policy decision will be cemented after this inflation report and

11-07-2022 13:41 GMT by Edward Moya

Week Ahead - Summer Remains Volatile

A strong nonfarm payroll report has paved the way for the Fed to deliver another 75 basis-point rate hike at the June 27th policy meeting. An overheating economy and hot inflation will keep the Fed focused on aggressively fighting inflation. Recession fears eased after the June payrolls impressed and wage growth remained strong.

08-07-2022 15:57 GMT by Edward Moya

NFP React: What Recession!, Abe’s legacy, Twitter, GameStop, Oil rises post NFP, Gold remains vulnerable, Bitcoin likes July

The economy is clearly not slowing as fast as many were thinking as the labor market remains robust. The US economy added 372,000 jobs in June, much better expectations and paving the way for the Fed to focus solely on inflation at the end of month policy meeting. The unemployment rate remained steady at 3.6% and wages gains continued. This strong jobs report means that the Fed should still be good to go with a 75 basis-point July rate hike. US stocks initially came under pressure as markets

08-07-2022 13:19 GMT by Edward Moya

FOMC minutes reality check

FOMC to remain aggressive with rate policy US markets got little solace but more clarity from the FOMC Minutes overnight. It was clear from the minutes that the committee members remained highly focused on culling inflation, even if it was at the expense of a sharp economic slowdown.

07-07-2022 04:27 GMT by Jeffrey Halley

Recession meltdown

Recession fears buffeted markets overnight, with the price action across various asset classes looking like a self-sustaining negative feedback loop, triggering more stop losses as prices slumped and dragging in trend-following momentum-hunting fast money. European equities, euro take a tumble Europe endured a torrid day as the Norwegian oil worker strike proved the last straw for an energy-starved Europe. European equities plummeted and rightly so, as Europe's energy-from-Russia Achilles heel w

06-07-2022 04:07 GMT by Jeffrey Halley

Knot-tying masterclass continues

One of the more pleasing aspects of being aboard a slow boat into the rainforests of Borneo these past few days was the complete loss of mobile telephony signals. The temptation to look at emails, chats, social media, or news from the markets was compulsorily removed, thanks to the national park being bigger than all of Bali. I certainly haven’t missed much in my short absence.

05-07-2022 04:22 GMT by Jeffrey Halley

A data-heavy end to the week

We're seeing choppy trading as we head into the weekend amid a flurry of economic data from across Europe. Things got underway with a plethora of PMI readings, although most were revised figures that aren't typically subject to large revisions meaning the market impact is relatively minimal. The euro area inflation data was always going to be this morning's headliner and considering the market reaction, it's been taken quite well. On the face of it, it looks like a mixed bag with the headline nu

01-07-2022 09:14 GMT by Craig Erlam

US close - A very bad half, US data supports aggressive Fed tightening for now, bitcoin falls below USD 20k

A global central bank effort to fight inflation is driving rising recession fears that has given Wall Street the worst half of the year since 1970. Added volatility from the final trading day of the quarter is especially crazy because so many investors are rebalancing their portfolios with recession stocks. US stocks pared losses as too many investors feel we are getting close to the bottom and that now isn't that bad of time to start to scale into a longer-term position.

30-06-2022 15:15 GMT by Edward Moya

Ending a bad month in the red

Stock markets have fallen heavily in June so it seems only fitting that they're ending the month with big losses as reality continues to bite. There's no getting away from recession chat and while the heads of the Fed, ECB and BoE didn't exactly fuel that during their panel discussion on Wednesday, they didn't do anything to dispel it either. They all know that there's a strong likelihood of recession this year or next and investors are increasingly accepting that fate as well. There's been a pl

30-06-2022 11:23 GMT by Craig Erlam

Oil reverses gains, gold steady, bitcoin nervy

Oil reverses gains after inventory data The rally in oil looked set to extend to the fourth day, as supply concerns outweigh recession fears ahead of the OPEC+ meeting tomorrow. The OPEC meeting today ended without any decisions being made amid speculation around Saudi Arabia and UAE's spare capacity. I'm not sure it makes an enormous difference as neither were likely to save the day anyway or they would have already.

29-06-2022 18:12 GMT by Craig Erlam

Wall Street digests mixed retail earnings, Mester remains very hawkish, a crypto fund ordered to liquidate

US stocks softened after key earnings from retailers provided limited optimism for the rest of the year and as rising long-term inflation expectations could tilt the Fed into sending the economy into a recession. Record inflation for Spain caught everyone’s attention, as traders shrugged off the temporary improvement with pricing pressures from Germany, which are only coming down from the highest levels in nearly a century. No one wants to buy the dip anymore after seeing a few stock market re

29-06-2022 09:30 GMT by Edward Moya

Oil higher, gold slips, bitcoin vulnerable

Oil rallies as OPEC+ fall further short of targets The easing of China's zero-Covid policy helped oil to the third day of gains following a decent correction in recent weeks. As did reports that the UAE and Saudi Arabia are producing near capacity, in stark contrast to claims that both are holding back and could do more.

28-06-2022 16:46 GMT by Craig Erlam

Stocks rally as China eases COVID rules and as banks raise dividends, bitcoin stuck in the mud

US stocks are rallying after several banks boosted their dividends and China pivoted away from its strict COVID policy. Wall Street seems to be close to figuring out how high central banks may take rates over in the short-term and that is supportive for long-term investors to scale into positions.

28-06-2022 08:15 GMT by Edward Moya

Selling rallies, strong durable data supports further Fed tightening, bitcoin weakens

Wall Street is poised for a drawn-out period of sluggish economic activity and that has stock traders steadily fading all rebounds that emerge. Today’s volatile durable goods order reading was rather impressive and while it is only one reading, it suggests the economy is still chugging along and could probably stomach more Fed rate hikes than are being priced in. With a bear market likely at the end of 2023, it is hard to be optimistic about the second quarter rebound that still seems likely d

27-06-2022 12:07 GMT by Edward Moya

Focus on ECB Forum

A mixed start to the new trading week, one in which the bulk of the big market-moving events are due from Wednesday onwards. That may make for choppy trading over the next couple of days, in keeping with what we've seen so far in Europe. We will still hear from some central bank policymakers in that time which could send ripples through the markets but again, the biggest of these will also come on Wednesday.

27-06-2022 11:18 GMT by Craig Erlam

Cryptos: all news & analysis