Daily Summary: FED 25pb rate hike still on the table

US stocks and bonds dipped on Friday due to concerns about inflation and the possibility of two more interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve this year. Markets predict 81% probability for 25pb rate hike by FED at the meeting at the beginning of May.

The Fed's battle with inflation has fueled hawkish bets, with some experts calling for a quarter-point increase at the May meeting followed by a pause.

Inflation expectations jumped in April with consumers seeing prices climbing 4.6% on one a year outlook, up from 3.6% in March, according to a University of Michigan survey.

JPMorgan, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo are benefiting from higher interest rates that have hurt smaller lenders which experienced a flood of deposits withdrawals. Financial related stocks are surging after JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM.US) and Citigroup Inc. (C.US) kicked off a busy earnings season.

The dollar came into strength again appreciating against many trading pairs while gold futures tumbled currently trading near psychological $2000 level.

The US.500 and US.100 both fell by 0.7% and 0.8% respectively, with tech stocks particularly affected.

Cryptocurrency market rally extends with BTC breaking through 30K and ETH trading above $2000. Negative information coming from markets cooled down the bulls, but not enough to cause a deeper correction.