Trump Criticizes Fed Again Despite Latest Rally in Stocks

Equities                                                                          

President Donald Trump tweeted again over the weekend criticizing the Fed policy. He said that the stock market would have been much higher and the GDP would have been well over 4% instead of 3%, with almost no inflation. He restated that quantitative tightening was a killer. The S&P500 futures and Nasdaq futures closed at 2912 and 7654, respectively, the highest since October. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures finished marginally higher for the week at 26408. Market participants await further earnings reports to grasp hints about the performance of US companies during the past quarter. 

USD

The dollar index which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies dipped further towards a three-week low 96.75 as investors shifted to riskier assets. The economic calendar is a bit shy today with the NY Empire State Manufacturing Index in focus and Fed's Evans CNBC appearance. Commodity currencies extended gains against the dollar where the AUDUSD climbed to a seven-week high of $0.7192, and the NZDUSD rose to $0.6782. In addition, the EURUSD rallied to $1.1324, the highest since March 26th.

Metals

Gold prices tumbled further as US treasury yields surged. Lately, the inverse correlation between the US yields and gold prices became clearer. The US 10-Year Treasury yields rose to a three-week high of 2.57% while the gold ounce plunged to a ten-day low of $1286. The silver ounce dipped towards $14.85, and palladium settled near $1370.

Oil

Oil prices continued to trade in a tight range near a five-month high awaiting fresh fundamental developments. The OPEC-led supply cuts and the US sanctions on Iran and Venezuela boosted oil prices recently. However, the rising US production and inventories along with the woes over the global economic outlook capped gains. The West Texas Intermediate crude futures traded lower at $63.39, and Brent futures dropped to $71.14.

Major Economic Events

Disclaimer

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