- U.S. indices welcomed the Fed's decision to cut rates again from 5% to 4.75%. Powell's was quite dovish and signaled to the markets that the Fed is ready to loosen monetary policy further, although he indicated that he will not give any more major guidance on what he will do at future meetings; he will react to data
- Powell believes the U.S. economy is doing very well, although the labor market is not in the best shape, and policy even after several cuts remains 'restrictive' in his view. However, the Fed needs to pay attention to keep inflation expectations from rising, and its contacts in the business world suggest that 2025 may bring an improvement in economic conditions
- The S&P 500 index rose 0.7% yesterday, the Nasdaq 100 rose another 1.5%, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Russell 2000 lost slightly. Today, index futures in Europe are losing slightly before the open
- The Nikkei rose slightly today, up 0.2%; the country's leading index indicated 109.4 versus 109 forecast and 106.9 previously. Household spending fell -1.1% YoY vs. -1.9% in September and -1.8% forecasts
- China's Hang Seng and CSI indices posted declines today, with HK.cash and CHN.cash index contracts losing nearly -3% today. Investors are considering whether the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress will announce additional stimulus programs. Markets don't quite believe Trump's imposition of 60% tariffs on Chinese goods; it seems that only such a scenario could force the parliament to support the economy more broadly than announced so far
- The US dollar is losing slightly. Yields retreated to 4.33% from 4.45% after Donald Trump's victory, and we can consider yesterday's Fed meeting as rather dovish, as Powell indicated that the Federal Reserve is reassured by a sustained decline in U.S. inflation and described labor market conditions as weaker than they were before the pandemic
- In the agricultural commodities market, a weaker U.S. dollar brought some relief, with wheat and corn gaining slightly. Cotton futures on ICE are up as much as 3%, ahead of the release of the USDA WASDE report at 5 PM GMT time. Oil loses between 0.5-0.6%, and gas is trading 0.3% higher
- The sentiment of the cryptocurrency market is very good; Bitcoin is trading above $76K and is approaching the historic highs reached yesterday again, and Cardano is gaining 12%
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