Nvidia jumps on Saudi deal, US gains accelerate [Video]

Ipek Ozkardeskaya Swissquote Bank Ltd

Trade news keeps getting better. Yesterday, it was the chipmakers’ turn to lead the rally, as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman pledged to spend as much as $1 trillion in commercial deals with the US, while Jensen Huang announced in Riyadh that the company will be selling chips to the Saudi Arabian AI company Humain for a massive data center project. Chip stocks led a broad-based US equity rally while gains in Europe remained limited.

On the macro side, investors also digested the latest US inflation report — which showed prices rising last month, but less than expected on a monthly basis. On a yearly basis, the headline rate eased to 2.3% — the lowest since spring 2021 — marking the third straight month of a softer-than-expected print. But the news were overshadowed by the tariff fears and didn’t improve Federal Reserve (Fed) expectations.

Across the channel, the surprise rise in the eurozone inflation softens the European Central Bank (ECB) doves’ hands, while in the UK, dovish voices are rising for the Bank of England (BoE) to cut – giving support to sterling against both the US dollar and the single currency.

Author

Ipek Ozkardeskaya

Swissquote Bank Ltd

Ipek Ozkardeskaya began her financial career in 2010 in the structured products desk of the Swiss Banque Cantonale Vaudoise. She worked in HSBC Private Bank in Geneva in relation to high and ultra-high-net-worth clients.

EUR/USD flirts with daily highs, retargets 1.1900

EUR/USD regains upside traction, returning to the 1.1880 zone and refocusing its attention to the key 1.1900 barrier. The pair’s slight gains comes against the backdrop of a humble decline in the US Dollar as investors continue to assess the latest US CPI readings and the potential Fed’s rate path.

GBP/USD remains well bid around 1.3650

GBP/USD maintains its upside momentum in place, hovering around daily highs near 1.3650 and setting aside part of the recent three-day drop. Cable’s improved sentiment comes on the back of the Greenback’s irresolute price action, while recent hawkish comments from the BoE’s Pill also collaborate with the uptick.

Gold clings to gains just above $5,000/oz

Gold is reclaiming part of the ground lost on Wednesday’s marked decline, as bargain-hunters keep piling up and lifting prices past the key $5,000 per troy ounce. The precious metal’s move higher is also underpinned by the slight pullback in the US Dollar and declining US Treasury yields across the curve.

Crypto Today: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP in choppy price action, weighed down by falling institutional interest

Bitcoin's upside remains largely constrained amid weak technicals and declining institutional interest. Ethereum trades sideways above $1,900 support with the upside capped below $2,000 amid ETF outflows.

Week ahead – Data blitz, Fed Minutes and RBNZ decision in the spotlight

US GDP and PCE inflation are main highlights, plus the Fed minutes. UK and Japan have busy calendars too with focus on CPI. Flash PMIs for February will also be doing the rounds. RBNZ meets, is unlikely to follow RBA’s hawkish path.

Ripple Price Forecast: XRP potential bottom could be in sight

Ripple edges up above the intraday low of $1.35 at the time of writing on Friday amid mixed price actions across the crypto market. The remittance token failed to hold support at $1.40 the previous day, reflecting risk-off sentiment amid a decline in retail and institutional sentiment.