FTSE 100 charges onwards

Chris Beauchamp IG

Markets are back in rally mode as investors gird themselves for Nvidia's earnings, says Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst at investing and trading platform IG.

FTSE 100 marches on to 11,000

There seems no stopping the FTSE 100. Another week like this and the index will top 11,000, just weeks after it first crossed the magic 10,000 level. It has the winning combination for investors right now – a lower valuation than pricey US markets, and key sectors driving that are much less vulnerable to AI-driven panic selloffs. Mining, defence and banking have all yet to be touched by an AI competitor, while its pharma stocks provide further heft and dividend payments too. It might be smaller than Nvidia, but it continues to charm global investors.

Bitcoin climbs 5%

Hopes of a bitcoin revival are running high again as the price enjoys its best day in about three weeks. The risk-on sentiment we are seeing in spades across indices was bound to spill over into this beaten-down asset, but even the highs of late January still seem a long way off.

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.

USD/JPY: Japanese Yen tumbles as Fed signals higher rate path

The Japanese Yen depreciated against the US Dollar on Wednesday after the US Federal Reserve delivered a hawkish hold, with most officials expecting one rate hike towards the end of the year, while the new Fed Chair, Warsh, reiterated the Fed’s commitment to achieving the 2% inflation goal. At the time of writing, the USD/JPY trades at 160.66 after bouncing off the daily low of 160.11.

AUD/USD folds to a hawkish Fed with no data to lean on

The Australian Dollar went into Kevin Warsh's first Federal Reserve decision as a high-beta currency with no domestic shield, and it paid for it. AUD/USD had been holding above 0.7050 ahead of the announcement and fell close to 80 pips in the reaction, slicing through 0.7050 and briefly breaking the 0.7000 handle to a session low just beneath it before clawing back above the figure.

Gold extends intraday slide towards $4,250

Gold turned negative by the end of Wednesday and trades in the $4,260 price zone. The US Federal Reserve left rates unchanged, but delivered a hawkish message, even though Chair Kevin Warsh refused to provide forward guidance.

Bitcoin remains under bearish pressure despite recent rebound — Glassnode

Bitcoin remains well below key onchain metrics, with realized losses continuing to dominate capital flows despite a partial price recovery. The top crypto rebounded from lows near $60,000 to the $65,000 range after the US-Iran peace deal reversed much of the war premium that had weighed on risk assets.

The next big AI trade may not be about chips or software

Artificial intelligence has already created some of the biggest winners in modern market history. Chipmakers have surged, data centre construction is booming, and electricity demand forecasts are changing globally.

Why a hawkish RBA is no longer enough to lift the Australian Dollar

The Reserve Bank of Australia delivered more than what markets expected: a hawkish hold that should have supported the Aussie. But markets widely ignored it, focusing instead on slowing economic growth and proving that central bank messaging alone isn’t always enough to drive currencies.