11,000 still in sight for FTSE 100

Chris Beauchamp IG

Investors continue to find reasons to like the FTSE 100, while gold's recent bounce has waned, says Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst at online trading and investing platform IG.

FTSE 100 presses on towards 11,000

Yet another broad-front advance for the FTSE 100 has helped the index take another firm step forward towards the next big round number. Some early weakness this morning was met with fresh buying, with the index’s absence of tech once again proving to be a boon especially with Nvidia’s results looming in a few hours. It has been a good week for European markets overall, helped along by the reversal in oil prices, and even some buying of the lows in oil today hasn’t dimmed the rally.

Gold reverses course

The shine seems to have come off gold however. While the rally had been given a new lease of life after Bessent’s meddling, the yellow metal appears to be suffering from altitude sickness. Warsh’s speech on Friday looms large, given the expectations around what he might say as investors gear up for September’s Fed decision.

Author

Chris Beauchamp

Chris Beauchamp has been with IG for four years, and in that time has become a regular commentator and analyst for the financial press and TV, with appearances on all the major financial channels as well as the BBC and Sky News.

AUD/USD bulls regain control above 0.6950 amid USD retreat

AUD/USD regains traction and extends the previous day's bounce from the weekly low, aiming for 0.7000 in Asia on Friday. The overnight pullback in US bond yields keeps the US Dollar below an 18-month high, which in turn offers some support to the pair. Meanwhile, hawkish RBA expectations also keep the major underpinned.

USD/JPY holds gains near 158.00 after Japan's weak Household Spending data

USD/JPY clings to gains around 158.00 after data showed on Friday that Japan's Household Spending fell for the ninth straight month, undermining the Japanese Yen. Meanwhile, the US Dollar remains depressed as the overnight fall in US bond yields counters a hawkish Fed and geopolitical uncertainties, could cap any downside in the pair.

Gold remains range-bound below $4,200

Gold has given up some ground after an initial bullish attempt to reach weekly highs, returning to below the $4,200 mark per troy ounce on Friday. The US Dollar’s strong upside momentum, combined with rising US Treasury yields across the curve, seems to keep further gains in the yellow metal under scrutiny.

Week ahead: US CPI, France’s budget crisis and Q3 earnings to set the market tone

The US dollar held relatively strong this week, despite the disappointing US jobs report on October 2, which further decreased the probability of a back-to-back rate hike by the Fed at the upcoming gathering on October 28.

CFTC Report: Euro and Aussie shorts expand amid diverging signals

The week in one sentence: Euro and Australian Dollar shorts deepened in the week to October 6, while Yen longs rebuilt. In addition, Coffee buying continued, and Gold exposure remained elevated despite another price decline. Speculators turned more negative on the Euro, increasing the net exposure to around 99.3K contracts.

Has Bitcoin really escaped the macro forces it was built to fight?

Over 17 years ago, Satoshi Nakamoto designed Bitcoin (BTC) on the back of a global financial crisis as an alternative to the global monetary system outside the control of central banks, governments and traditional intermediaries. This raises a key question: has Bitcoin really become independent of the macroeconomic forces it was built to challenge?