US stock indices flew higher last night, led by a strong advance in tech stocks. This saw the S&P 500 and NASDAQ end the session up 1.1% and 2.2% respectively. The Dow and Russell 2000 lagged somewhat, with both closing 0.3% higher, but overall the tone was positive. The gains followed the latest update on US inflation with the release of the Consumer Price Index...
Crude oil suddenly became a newsworthy talking point yesterday as Brent fell below $70 per barrel to trade at its lowest level since December 2021. Front-month WTI also fell again, taking it back to levels last seen in May 2023. No one is willing to stand underneath this torrent of selling, as significant buyers continue to stand aside, even after last week’s...
Gold broke above $2,500 in mid-August and has been trading either side of this level ever since. On one hand, this looks quite constructive from a bullish standpoint as the to-and-fro on the daily chart suggests a period of consolidation. This is entirely reasonable given the run-up from $2,300 at the end of June. It’s also encouraging that gold hasn’t yet...
Yesterday saw a sharp turnaround in oil after prices appeared to find a floor on Tuesday. This followed a near-relentless sell-off which began at the beginning of July. But Wednesday brought a last-minute stick save. This saw Brent and WTI bounce sharply. Front-month WTI was trading above $78 earlier this morning, having hit a multi-week low of $73.35 on Tuesday....
Finally, gold found some love yesterday. Prices rallied late afternoon in a move which pushed gold back above $2,400. It went on to build on those gains overnight. The question now is if it can make further upside progress, or is this latest rally going to peter out as resistance is tested around $2,430? Gold is now back within sight of its all-time high around...
Any bullish hopes that crude oil was ready for a rebound, following a month’s-worth of near relentless downside pressure, evaporated yesterday. Front-month WTI slumped below a level of intermediate support around $76 and is getting ever closer to the multi-month lows hit in early June. The daily MACD is pushing deeper into negative territory, indicating that...
It has been a feature, or perhaps more correctly a worry, of the US equity market that post-Covid gains have been driven by a small selection of tech stocks. Less than a month ago, the five largest corporations by market capitalisation, accounted for over 20% of the value of the S&P 500. Understandably, this concentration of risk caused many analysts to express...
Just when the bulls thought that crude may have found some support, the sellers came out and smashed their hopes. While crude was a touch firmer in early trade, the gains were coming from a lower base. Yesterday, front-month WTI appeared to find some support around $77.50, having sliced below $80 at the end of last week. But it didn’t take too much effort for the...
US stock index futures were mixed in early trade this morning. This followed a positive session across all the majors yesterday with strong gains for both the tech-heavy NASDAQ 100 (+1.6%) and the mid-cap, domestically-focused Russell 2000 (+1.7%). Investors will be relieved by the turnaround in fortunes following a general sell-off in the latter half of last...
On Friday morning the oil price looked finely balanced. Front-month WTI had managed to hold support around $80. But it had failed to put sufficient clear water between this level and its first major upside target of $82 per barrel. That proved to be fatal for traders looking for an immediate resumption of the bull run from early June. Crude fell back sharply on...
Gold ran head-first into a brick wall overnight and is down sharply today. This follows a couple of indifferent sessions which, nevertheless, appeared to offer some consolidation at higher levels following Tuesday’s sharp rally. Back then, gold surged past its old record high of $2,450 from May this year, going on to top $2,480. But, just as we saw in April, May...
Crude oil flew higher yesterday, after spending the morning testing significant support. Front-month WTI dropped below $80 per barrel on Tuesday, setting the market up for a face-off between the bulls and bears. It proved to be quite a tussle, with the winner likely to set the tone and near-term direction. In the end, the bulls managed to spark a significant rally...
There’s been a sharp sell-off in tech stocks today which saw the NASDAQ 100 drop over 2% soon after the open. Generative AI darlings NVIDIA and Super Micro Computers were both down over 5%, while there were also big losses for Meta, Apple, Microsoft and Tesla. Investors reacted to reports that the Biden administration was preparing further trade restrictions...
Gold was firmer again this morning, building on yesterday’s gains. It then dropped sharply as the New York futures exchange opened, before steadying just above $2,430. It proceeded to shoot higher, taking out its all-time intra-day high of $2,450 from two months ago. This is a situation which must be offering up some comfort to the bulls. Gold has made steady...
Gold was a touch weaker in early trade this morning, but still managed to hold above $2,400. Silver was also on the backfoot first thing. But both metals rallied off their lows as the trading session progressed. Gold, and to a lesser extent silver, got a boost from last week’s unexpected improvement in US inflation, as measured by CPI. Gold has managed to hold on...
US stock indices were rallying sharply into the weekend. This followed yesterday’s extraordinary session which saw large losses for tech stocks, but a huge shift into domestically focused mid-caps. This change in fortunes was borne out by the closing numbers which saw the NASDAQ 100 end 2% lower, while the Russell 2000 jumped 3.6%. The tech-led sell-off came just...
Front-month WTI fell back close to $80 per barrel yesterday before it bounced sharply. This move should be encouraging for bullish investors as it suggests that oil prices may have found a good level of support. If it continues to hold, and if prices now consolidate between $80 and $81, then the bulls could have a launchpad for further gains. This assumes that the...
Gold was a touch firmer in early trade this morning, building on yesterday’s gains, and clawing back a proportion of Monday’s losses. It has been a feature of the gold market since April that incremental gains made over many days, or even weeks, get wiped out in a single session. This has done a fair amount of damage to the bullish sentiment that had been building...
