Record highs on the FTSE 100 and on Wall Street

Chris Beauchamp IG

If there are jitters about tech earnings this week then they're not showing up in the price action, says Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst at investing and trading platform IG.

FTSE 100 advances to new record

The FTSE 100’s directionless start to the day has given way to more record highs, joining the enthusiastic gains seen in Japan and the US in the past 24 hours. Bubble fears would be hard to engender here – even after its rampage to new highs the index still trades at 14 times earnings. Gold’s small bounce this afternoon should help prop up the mining sector, helping to put some shine back after the recent losses.

Bubble fears rise again as Microsoft and Apple join the $4 trillion club

This continues to be one of the most disliked rallies in history. Each new high in indices and every milestone achieved by individual stocks is presented as evidence of a bubble in equities. Even Cathie Wood appears to be getting jitters. This doesn’t feel like we are seeing Greenspan’s ‘irrational exuberance’, instead the disbelief appears to be widespread. It is understandable to see signs of nervousness around tech earnings this week, but the market continues to demonstrate remarkable resilience.

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Chris Beauchamp

EUR/USD trims losses, flirts with the 1.1850 zone

EUR/USD is back on the back foot on Wednesday, slipping below the 1.1850 area as the US Dollar picks up some modest traction. The move comes as traders position ahead of a busy run of US data and the release of the FOMC Minutes. Adding to the pullback are reports that the ECB’s Lagarde may step down before completing her term.

GBP/USD flirts with daily highs near 1.3580

GBP/USD manages to set aside two consecutive daily declines and trades with slight gains in the 1.3580 zone on Wednesday. Cable’s uptick comes despite acceptable gains in the Greenback and easing UK inflation figures, which seem to have reinforced the case for a BoE rate cut in March.

Gold regains some shine, retargets $5,000 ahead of FOMC Minutes

Gold gathers fresh upside traction on Wednesday, leaving part of the weakness seen at the beginning of the week and refocusing its attention to the key $5,000 mark per troy ounce, all ahead of the release of the FOMC Minutes and despite the modest uptick in the US Dollar.

Pi Network rally defies market pressure ahead of its first anniversary

Pi Network is trading above $0.1900 at press time on Wednesday, extending the weekly gains by nearly 8% so far. The steady recovery is supported by a short-term pause in mainnet migration, which reduces pressure on the PI token supply for Centralized Exchanges. The technical outlook focuses on the $0.1919 resistance as bullish momentum increases.

Mixed UK inflation data no gamechanger for the Bank of England

Food inflation plunged in January, but service sector price pressure is proving stickier. We continue to expect Bank of England rate cuts in March and June. The latest UK inflation read is a mixed bag for the Bank of England, but we doubt it drastically changes the odds of a March rate cut.

Top 3 Price Prediction: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple face downside risk as bears regain control

Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple remain under pressure on Wednesday, with the broader trend still sideways. BTC is edging below $68,000, nearing the lower consolidating boundary, while ETH and XRP also declined slightly, approaching their key supports.