Daily Summary: "Bulls" take control at the end of the week 📈

The last session of this week on the stock exchanges brought substantial gains in stock index valuations. The Polish WIG20 gained 1.31%, the German DAX added 1.39%, the French CAC40 gained 0.89%, and the Euro Stoxx 50 index, representing the broader market, added 1.37%.

On Wall Street, technology companies lead the gains, with the Nasdaq index currently seeing the highest increases, nearly 2%. The S&P 500 is up 1.13%, and the Russell 2000, which includes smaller capitalization companies, is up 1%.

Bullish sentiments are driven by reactions to very good quarterly results from Microsoft and Alphabet. Moreover, we observe close to a 5% increase in the shares of Nvidia, a company that in the eyes of investors is a key "player" in the AI sector.

Abbvie is down nearly 4.0% after publishing its first-quarter results for 2024. Investor attention focused on the projected decline in sales volume of the blockbuster arthritis drug Humira, which is an important source of revenue for the company.

If the Nasdaq index manages to close the session with the current momentum, it will be its "best" session since the beginning of the year.

Paradoxically, the rises were not even harmed by a slightly higher PCE inflation reading, which theoretically could increase the likelihood of more hawkish Federal Reserve decisions in the medium term. A minor deviation from the median forecast of analysts, however, failed to exert pressure on the market.

In addition to the stock market, there is also significant activity in the FX market, where the Japanese yen is recording massive sell-offs. The currency of Japan is noted at new 34-year lows against the dollar due to the lack of an interest rate hike and the maintenance of an ultra-loose monetary policy narrative by the local establishment.

Leaders of the gains in the broader FX market are the Australian dollar and the U.S. dollar.

Final UoM data indicated slightly higher inflationary pressure in the USA. One-year inflation expectations stood at 3.2% compared to the last reading of 2.9%. For five-year forecasts, it was 3.0% compared to 2.8% expected earlier.

NATGAS is down over 3.5% today, thereby erasing some of the gains (growth gap) caused by the rolling of the futures contract for this commodity.

Precious metals do not record excessive changes in valuations during today's session. Currently, an ounce of gold costs $2338. Silver shows slightly different behavior. The prices of this metal are down today by 0.6%.

However, worse sentiments are observed in the cryptocurrency market, where Bitcoin is down nearly 1.5% intraday and is quoted below the $64,000 zone. A similar downward dynamic is also observed on Ethereum.