Summary:

• Stock indices show cautious gains on the European close
• Norwegian Krona surges higher after hawkish comments
• Bitcoin bounce fades
• Technical overview: Gold
• Active bank recommendations

It’s been a mildly positive day so far for stocks, with European indices making small gains. The US is pretty much flat at the time of writing with an early attempt to push higher fading. Stock buybacks have come into focus in the past month or so and this could well provide a source of additional buying support going forward.

 As broadly expected the Norwegian central bank maintained its monetary policy settings unchanged at the March meeting offering a reason to be more bullish on the NOK though. As a result, the local krone jumped, and it has remained the strongest currency among its major peers until now. Although a rate hike this year has been already fully priced in, the NOK seems to still hold some scope to outperform in the longer-term as it is placed among the most undervalued currencies in the G10 basket.

Following a heavy day of losses, the crypto markets looked to recover this morning with all 5 moving steadily higher. This recovery was nipped in the bud as the day wore on however, and all the markets have now slipped back into the red to trade not far from the weekly lows. 

We have had plethora of political as well as macroeconomic events, however, they have not supported the greenback and therefore it’s sill going nowhere. It seems that investors could await the next week FED’s decision where the central bank is widely expected to lift rates by 25 basis points nevertheless the statement should capture major attention. One market that could be particularly interesting to watch going forward is Gold, and a technical overview of the precious metal can be found here. 

The latest open trade recommendations from the major banks can be found here.