- The FOMC Minutes presented set a moderate but nonetheless hawkish tone in the stock markets. Comments suggesting uncertainty about the scale of the current tightening and the willingness to pursue it for a longer period of time created downward pressure shortly after the report was read.
- Major U.S. stock indices are losing slightly. The S&P 500 is down 0.4%, while the Nasdaq and Dow Jones are losing about 0.7%.
- Nvidia shares are trading down slightly by -0.4% ahead of the report. The market-implied volatility of the company's shares after the release of the results is 7.72% with a slight edge on the side of predicting an increase in stock prices.
- Among the strongest-growing companies in the main U.S. index, First Solar stands out, rallying about 17% today. The company is gaining on investors' hopes of improving earnings on a wave of expanding demand for electricity underpinned by artificial intelligence and growing US protectionism.
- European markets end the day so far on the downside. The Euro Stoxx 50 is losing more than -0.6% today, the German DAX -0.5%, and the British FTSE 100 -0.8%. The Volatility Index for European equities is up 1.2% today.
- U.S. secondary market home sales in April came in lower than expected. 4.14 million homes were sold (versus forecasts of 4.23 million), marking the second consecutive month of declines.
- In the FX market, the British pound and the US dollar are currently leading the way (the effect of the FOMC Minute). Elevated declines, however, are seen in the Australian dollar and the Swiss franc.
- Such a strong performance by the pound is, of course, the result of a higher inflation reading, which may encourage BoE bankers to take a more conservative stance toward monetary policy.
- The broad-market weakness of the Polish zloty during Wednesday's session was largely the result of a stronger decline in wages in the corporate sector. On a monthly basis, the decline was 1.6% versus the 0.5% drop expected by consensus.
- There was a lot going on in the commodities market today. We saw a sizable realization of gains primarily in industrial metals, with silver also recording nearly 3.2% declines. Gold is currently losing 1.6%. Nearly 4% declines were booked today by copper.
- NATGAS added nearly 6.6% today on the back of a weather forecast update, which indicates that we will face much warmer-than-expected temperatures in the western US over the next 6-10 days.
- Data from the DOE report showed an increase in crude oil inventories of 1.83 million barrels versus an expected decline of -2.4 million barrels. The price of oil rose in response to the report, but the gains did not last long and oil is currently trading down 0.8%.
- Bitcoin and Ethereum are recording slight increases on an intraday basis. The most popular cryptocurrency remains in the $70,000 zone.
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