North American News
Stocks close lower on the day with the NASDAQ leading the way lower
- Major indices are marginally lower heading into the final trading day of the week
The major US stock indices are closing lower with the NASDAQ leading the way to the downside. The final numbers are showing:
- Dow industrial average is train down -110.41 points or -0.33% at 33786.63
- S&P index is down -24.71 points or -0.59% at 4129.80
- NASDAQ index is down -97.68 points or -0.80% at 12059.55
- Russell 2000 is down -9.74 points or -0.54% at 1789.69
US March existing home sales 4.44M vs 4.50M expected
- US March 2023 existing home sales data
- Prior was 4.58m
- Sales change -2.4% vs +14.5% prior
- Median price $375,700 vs $363,300 prior
- Prices down 0.9% from March 2022
- Inventory 2.6 vs 2.6 months prior
US sells 5-year TIPS at +1.320% vs 1.310% WI
- Results of the $21 billion TIPS sale
- Prior sale was 1.504%
- Bid to cover at 2.34
US leading index for March -1.2% versus -0.6% estimate
- US leading index for March 2023
- Prior month -0.3% revised to -0.5%
- Leading index for March -1.2% versus -0.6% expected
- The index is down for the 12 consecutive month
- The LEI is down 4.5 percent over the six-month period between September 2022 and March 2023—a steeper rate of decline than its 3.5 percent contraction over the previous six months (March–September 2022).
- The index is at its lowest level since November 2020.
- Coincident economic index increased 0.2% after a 0.2% rise in February
- the lagging economic index fell -0.2% following a 0.2% rise in February
Fed’s Waller answering questions
- Eyeing for comments on the economy
- Stable coins will give fed a broader reach in De-Fi world
- With SVB, there was no way to process collateral for discount window lending fast enough
- Need to think about how to assess, process collateral at discount window faster
- Things have “kind of a calmed down” in the banking sector
Fed’s Mester: Inflation is still too high. Fed has more work to do
- Fed’s Mester speaks on the economy and policy
- Inflation is still too high
- Fed Bank has more work to do
- Federal need to hike policy rate to over 5% and hold there for a while
- Fed is much closer to the end of rate hike journey
- Sees welcome progress in balancing demand and supply in economy
- Watching to see impact of tighter financial conditions on economy
- How financial conditions evolve could influence future rate hike view
- Stresses in banking sector have eased, but fed will act if needed
- Expect to see meaningful progress in lowering the inflation in this year
- Expect inflation to ease to 3.75% this year
- Job market strong, expects unemployment rate to rise to 4.5% – 4.75%
- The Fed has come a long way in tightening monetary policy
- Active tool of monetary policy is interest rates, not the balance sheet
- Fed will act to shore up financial system if needed
- Emergency lending to banks has eased financial sector stress.
- The USD is still the world’s top reserve currency.
- Congress must address the debt ceiling. Confident they will act.
Commodities
Gold surges beyond $2,000
- US Initial Jobless Claims disappoint a prelude that the labor market is easing.
- The latest Federal Reserve Beige Book shows the US economy is slowing down, led by inflation, hiring, and consumption.
- Gold Price Analysis: To remain sideways within the $1,98-$2,015 range.
Gold price climbs and reclaims the $2,000 after traveling towards weekly lows on Wednesday at $1,969.34, though economic data from the United States (US) bolstered the yellow-metal. In addition, US bond yields are falling, weakening the US Dollar (USD). At the time of typing, the XAU/USD is trading at $2,006.91, above its opening price by 0.61%.
US economic data hurt the US Dollar, boost Gold higher
Risk aversion is the game’s name, even though the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) remains below 17.00. Wall Street remains pressured after the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) revealed that unemployment claims rose. Initial Jobless Claims for the latest week rose by 245K, exceeded estimates of 240K, and weighed on US bond yields, a tailwind for Gold.
The XAU/USD was underpinned by a worse-than-expected Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index report, which collapsed to -31.3, down from March -23.2, a headwind for the greenback, as recessionary fears reignited following the announcement.
Furthermore, the Beige Book revealed on Wednesday that the US economy is decelerating as hiring and inflation are slowing. The book noted that access to credit is narrowing, wages are increasing, and consumer spending is contracting.
Despite the above, the CME FedWatch Tool still displays that the swaps markets expect a 25 bps hike at the May meeting, with odds at 88.6%.
Consequently, the US 2-year Treasury bond yield tumbles eight bps, down at 4.161%, while the 10-year benchmark note rate clings to the 3.538% area, down five bps. The US 10-year TIPS bond yield, a proxy for real yields, which influences XAU/USD prices, caps the advance of Gold, with gains of 4 bps, up at 1.264%.
The US Dollar Index, a measure of the buck’s value vs. a basket of six currencies, is down 0.20%, at 101.739.
WTI crude oil settles at $77.29
- Down -$1.87 or 2.36%. Tests the 100 day MA.
WTI crude oil futures settle at $77.29, declining by $1.87 or 2.36%. Throughout the day, prices fluctuated between a low of $76.97 and a high of $79.07.
EU News
European indices close the day lower
- UK FTSE 100 unchanged
The major European indices are ending the day lower. The UK FTSE 100 was the outlier as it closed unchanged on the day:
- German DAX -0.62%
- Frances CAC -0.20%
- UK’s FTSE 100 unchanged
- Spain’s Ibex -0.47%
- Italy’s FTSE MIB -1.08%
ECB’s Visco: The risk of doing too much is at least as much as risk of doing too little
- Comments from the ECB’s Visco
- Eurozone economic demand is still below trend
Other News
Treasury Secretary Yellen: Banking system remains sound
- US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaking
- US banking system remains sound and we will take necessary steps to ensure US financial system is strongest in that safest in the world
- China’s economic growth need not be incompatible with US economic leadership
- China’s no limits partnership and support for Russia is a worry some indication that it is not serious about ending the war in Ukraine
- US will make clear that consequences of any violations of sanctions on Russia by Chinese companies would be severe
- Will continue to impose sanctions on Chinese officials, companies over human rights abuses
- Does not seek to decouple US Chinese economies
Cryptocurrency News
Dogecoin price crashing by 10% stumps investors awaiting profits worth $1.64 billion
- Dogecoin price followed Bitcoin’s cues as the meme coin failed to breach the multi-mont barrier at $0.0966.
- Investors that bought their holdings when DOGE fluctuated between $0.0868 and $0.0932 went underwater over the last 24 hours.
- The prospect of recovery is looking strong at the moment, given the rising rate of DOGE transfer among addresses.
Dogecoin price has been struggling to mark a new year-to-date high as it continues to fail in breaching the four-month-long barrier. This has left a specific group of DOGE holders perplexed as to whether their holdings will ever see the light of profits.
Dogecoin price dip brings losses
Dogecoin price in the last 24 hours charted a nearly 11% decline as the meme coin fell from $0.0942 to $0.0835 at the time of writing. As the altcoin declined on the charts, the group of investors that bought their supply when DOGE was worth between $0.0868 and $0.0932 witnessed losses again.
These investors amassed nearly 19.6 billion DOGE, which at current prices is worth close to $1.64 billion. For this supply to turn profitable, the Dogecoin price would need to recover beyond $0.0894, which is the average price of 19.6 billion DOGE.
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