Summary:
- US stocks have rallied today with the US500 making a new all-time high
- US data comes in on the soft side
- Technical overview of Gold which has reversed lower today after rising
- Oil set to end the week little changed after hitting 2 1/2 years highs
- Ripple pulls back after incredible rally this week
The US stock market has enjoyed another good week with the US500 moving above its prior peak this afternoon to make a new all-time high. Thursday’s session saw a sizable sell-off but today’s recovery keeps the upwards trajectory firmly intact heading into the year-end.
Two pieces of second tier US data this afternoon came in below consensus expectations with the Empire manufacturing index and the latest industrial production number both disappointing. This saw the US dollar fall back but it has since recovered and trades fairly mixed on the day.
Gold often trades inversely to the buck and today the precious metal first rose following the data releases before respecting prior resistance and turning lower. A technical overview of the market can be found here.
It’s been quite a volatile week for Oil with Brent surging to its highest level since the summer of 2015 towards the beginning on news of a cracked North sea pipeline. However, the market pulled back after Wednesday’s DOE release and currently trades little changed from last week’s close.
Cryptocurrencies continue to attract a lot of attention in the marketplace with the launch of CBOE Bitcoin futures this week. Bitcoin itself has enjoyed steady gains since Sunday but Ripple has stolen the show with an incredible rally that has seen its price rise by more than threefold. Today Ripple has pulled back somewhat, trading lower by around 10% but the market remains firmly higher on the week.