- Wall Street indices launched today's trading lower, responding to US credit outlook cut by Moody's
- Moody's maintained US credit rating at 'AAA" but has cut the outlook from 'stable' to 'negative' on Friday, citing large fiscal deficit and political gridlock in Congress as reasons
- US indices managed to recover from early declines and are now trading slightly higher. S&P 500 and Russell 2000 gain 0.1%, Dow Jones adds 0.2% while Nasdaq trades flat
- European stock market indices traded higher today - German DAX gained 0.7%, French CAC40 added 0.6%, UK FTSE 100 jumped 0.9% and Italian FTSE MIB was up almost 1.5%
- USDJPY tumbled shortly after 3:00 pm GMT and dropped around 0.5% in a matter of minutes, rising speculations that Bank of Japan intervened to support domestic currency
- OPEC crude oil output increased by 80k bpd in October, driven by increase in production in Iran, Angola and Nigeria
- OPEC kept oil demand growth forecast for 2024 unchanged at 2.25 million barrels per day
- Goldman Sachs lowered its 2024 Brent price forecast from $98 to $92 per barrel., citing increased output from Brazil, Venezuela and Nigeria as well as lower heating demand as reasons
- According to the New York Fed, 5-year inflation expectations dropped from 2.8 to 2.7% in October while 1-year inflation expectations dropped from 3.7 to 3.6%. 3-year inflation expectations were unchanged at 3%
- Major cryptocurrencies were trading mixed today - Bitcoin dropped 1%, Ethereum gained 1.5%, Dogecoin plunged 3% and BitcoinCash was flat
- Energy commodities traded higher today - oil gained 1.2% while US natural gas prices jumped over 4%
- Natural gas gained as new weather forecasts for the United States pointed to below-average temperatures in the near-future
- Precious metals traded higher today - gold and silver gained 0.6%, platinum surged 2.5% and palladium added 1.6%
- AUD and GBP are the best performing major currencies while JPY and CHF lag the most
USDJPY abruptly plunged in the afternoon, boosting speculation that the Bank of Japan may have intervened to support the domestic currency. Source: xStation5
