- European indices closed higher today, with DAX up 0.74% as investors continue to weigh recession fears against surging inflation ahead of the ECB’s meeting this week. The central bank is widely expected to hike interest rates for the first time in 11-years, with President Lagarde signaling a 25bps raise.
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Major Wall Street indices were trading higher early in the session supported by solid quarterly results of two mega banks - Goldman Sachs, and Charles Schwab. Market also scaled back forecasts for 100 bp rate rise following after last week several policymakers have supported raising interest rates "only "by another 75 bp.
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However moods worsened in the evening after Bloomberg reported that Apple plans to slow hiring and spending for some teams net year. Some investors treat this as a sign that financial goals have not been achieved or demand declines, which could translate into weak quarterly report.
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This week Wall Street will focus on a slew of major earnings releases, especially Tesla on Wednesday. IBM will report earnings today after market close as the first major tech company to do so, while Netflix will release its figures tomorrow.
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NATGAS price rose over 4.0% after Gazprom declared force majeure on supplies to at least one major European client, even as Canada unblocked the delivery of a turbine of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. Also USD pulled back from its multi-year highs, making the dollar-denominated commodity more affordable for holders of other currencies.
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Currently GBP and EUR are the best performing major currencies while CHF and AUD lag the most.
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Oil prices jumped over 5.0% on Monday as Saudi ministers insisted that policy decisions would be based on market dynamics and according to the OPEC+ meeting on August 3rd, despite President Biden’s request to bring more oil supply to the market.
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Gold rose slightly but remains close to an 11-month low amid a slight pullback in the dollar.
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Upbeat mood returned to the cryptocurrency market after Ethereum developers plan to switch from an energy-intensive proof-of-work system to a more efficient proof-of-stake system on September 19th. Following the news, Bitcoin briefly jumped above $22,600, while Ethereum tested $1530 level.
Silver managed to defend the key support zone around $18.70. Source: xStation5
