Stock shed ground following payrolls

Chris Beauchamp IG

A stronger payrolls report has failed to support stocks in afternoon trading, says Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst at investing and trading platform IG.

Session turns ‘risk off’ despite better jobs report

US futures had reacted positively to news that payrolls had been stronger than expected, but the potential for a delay to rate cuts seems to have weighed more heavily on investors as the full trading session got underway on Wall Street. Once more the FTSE 100 is the safe haven among stock markets, supported by rising commodity prices. Still, with overall US market breadth hitting a record high, the overall situation points towards further upside in the medium-term, even if the journey seems destined to be a bit more volatile.

Bitcoin selloff resumes

Cryptocurrencies have resumed their slide lower after last week’s bounce. There still seems no appetite to go dip-buying in the asset class, which hit fresh multi-month lows last week. In a world filled with AI and where gold continues to shine, bitcoin’s appeal is firmly on the wane at present, and if this selloff is like the others, we could be in for a long period of declines before it finally hits a sustainable low.

Author

Chris Beauchamp

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.