Daily Summary: Wall Street is reducing its initial gains, while NATGAS is rising over 8%

Today's stock market session once again was dominated by the bulls. In Europe, in the spotlight was German DAX, which reached almost historical highs. On the other side of the globe, the Japanese Nikkei surpassed its previous records. Wall Street is not lagging behind, with the technology-heavy NASDAQ gaining over 1.2% on the wave of reassurances from McCarthy about the imminent resolution of uncertainty surrounding the US debt ceiling. However, the scale of the gains was reduced in the second half of the session.

Kevin McCarthy, the leader of the Republican Party in the United States House of Representatives, announced ongoing negotiations regarding spending cuts and raising the debt limit. The decision itself is expected to be made next week. McCarthy added that the current state of negotiations is at a much better level than it was just a week ago.

Lorie K. Logan, a banker at the Federal Reserve (Fed), stated in a speech that current macroeconomic data does not support keeping interest rates in the US unchanged.

James Bullard, also from the Fed, commented that he maintains his support for further interest rate hikes in the US, emphasizing that higher rates overall serve as a good safeguard against inflation.

Initial jobless claims are slowing down the recent upward momentum. Additionally, the number of continuing jobless claims dropped below 1.8 million for the first time since the first week of March.

The largest retailer in the United States, Walmart, beat Wall Street expectations in Q1 in terms of both earnings per share and revenue. Although real retail sales declined year-on-year, the company's stores continue to enjoy high popularity due to their competitive pricing compared to competitors. Walmart also raised its full-year revenue forecast but indicated that consumer strength deteriorated noticeably towards the end of the quarter, slightly increasing concerns about the state of the economy in the second half of the year.

NATGAS (natural gas) gained over 8% after lower inventory readings in the US. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported an injection of 99 billion cubic feet of natural gas into storage, contrasting with the expected level of 110 billion. The result significantly deviated from median forecasts.

In the FX market, the US dollar maintains its dominant position, outperforming other currencies. The New Zealand dollar and Swiss franc are currently under the greatest pressure.

Gold is down over 1.3% and is approaching psychological support levels around $1950 per ounce. Strong dollar pressure continues to impact gold prices.

The cryptocurrency market extends its downward trend, with Bitcoin losing over 2% at the time of writing, falling towards support levels around $26,700 USD.