MARKETS week ahead: August 18 – 24Last week in the news
The lower than expected US inflation figures were the main driver of financial markets during the previous week. The US equities gained the most, with S&P 500 ending the week at the level of 5.554, and only 2% lower from it's all time highest level in July this year. The price of gold gained on a USD weakens, reaching a fresh new all time highest level of $2.506, reached on Friday. The US Treasury yields dropped to the level of 3.8% during the week, on inflation and PPI figures. The only market that was left behind during the week was the crypto market. BTC was traded within a relatively short range, struggling to hold the $60K level.
The inflation in the US is evidently slowing down. The posted figures for July are showing that the inflation reached 2.9% on a yearly basis, which was below market estimate of 3.0%. Core inflation was standing at 3.2% y/y. At the same time the Producer Price Index was increased by 0.1% in July, and was also below forecasted 0.2%, while core PPI was standing at 0% for the month. On the opposite side, posted Retail Sales figures for July were significantly higher from the market estimate, reaching 1.0% for the month, above forecasted 0.3%. This was a clear signal to investors that the inflation is slowing down, increasing the potential for the Fed's rate cut in September. At the same time, there is no indication that the US economy is nearing recession, but quite opposite, it is holding relatively solid, despite the environment of increased interest rates. The Jackson Hole Symposium is scheduled for the end of the week ahead, where Fed Chair Powell will hold a speech. The markets will closely watch this event, in expectation of any new information which will confirm their expectation of a forthcoming rate cut.
The British fintech company Revoult passed through a secondary share sale during the previous week, where the company was valued at $45 billion. The Revoult recently gained a banking licence with restrictions from the U.K. authorities, while the investors valuation of $45B represents a significant shift from the $ 33B valuation the company posted in July 2021.
The Governor of the People's Bank of China, Pan Gongsheng, noted in an interview with Chinese media that the financial risks in China's economy have decreased, and that he expects cooperation with the Ministry of Finance in order to reach defined economic growth for this year. The initial risks were related to the high amount of debt in China's housing market, impacting the local government.
JPMorgan published a research report, in which it is noted that the profitability of the crypto miners fell in August to an all time lowest levels, considering a 26% increase in a hashrate, which is at a record high. This is the main reason for a drop of 18% in the value of the total market cap of the fourteen U.S. listed miners.
Crypto market cap
The crypto market was left behind investors' focus during the previous week. Current concern regarding the course of interest rates till the year end, turned the market interest back to equity markets, leaving the crypto market to trade in a mixed manner during the week. There were almost equal numbers of both buying and selling orders, leaving the crypto market to trade sort of the side. Total crypto market capitalization dropped by another 1% during the week, losing another $27B in its total cap. Daily trading volumes continue to decrease, reaching levels around $ 95B on a daily basis, which is a modest drop from $107B traded two weeks ago. Total crypto market capitalization increase from the end of the previous year currently stands at $412B, which represents a 25% surge from the beginning of this year.
This was one of the rare weeks when major coins did not play a crucial role in driving the market cap. Instead, this week investors were more focused on major altcoins. BTC performed in a mixed manner, losing more than 2% in value during the week, or around $25B. ETH is finishing the week relatively flat, with a modest drop on a weekly level of $ 1B in value or 0.3%. At the same time, Bitcoin Gold gained significantly, supported by ATH of gold, reached during the week, with an weekly gain of 15.5%, adding $ 62M to its market cap. Among gainers, DASH should be noted, as this coin managed to add 8.3% to its value during the week. Litecoin also performed well, with an increase in the market cap of 10.5% w/w. ZCash also closed the week higher by 9%. On the other hand, market bellowed Solana lost even 9.3%, while Polkadot was down by 8.9%. XRP dropped in value by around 5%, losing $1.6B in its market cap.
When it comes to coins in circulation, Tether managed to add 1.0% more coins to the market, increasing by this percentage its market capitalization, adding $1.17B to it. Polkadot added 0.2% of new coins, while Filecoin, traditionally, increased its circulating coins by 0.3%. During the week, Solana not only lost in value, but also decreased the number of coins on the market by 0.1% w/w.
Crypto futures market
Some interesting developments occurred in the crypto futures market during the previous week. Namely, as BTC finished the week in red and ETH ended flat, still, these movements were not exactly reflected in the respective short term futures. BTC short term futures were last traded down by around 2.5%, while the long term ones were traded lower by 1.7%. At the same time, futures maturing in December this year dropped by 5% w/w, ending the week at the level of $59.770. December 2025 was closed at $68.290.
Opposite to the BTC futures, ETH futures closed the week in green. Short term futures were last traded around 0.8% higher from the week before, while the longer term ones, ended the week more than 1% higher. December 2025 ended the week at the level of $2.718, while December 2025 closed at $2.909.
