Summary:

• CB Consumer Confidence print missed forecasts

• US equities wander without direction

• Oil prices remain on hold ahead of API report

The beginning of the US session differed from the one we have seen in Europe today. Major stock benchmarks opened literally unchanged and wandered without direction later on. Nasdaq is an exceptions as it fell under pressure on the news that the White House plans to ban Chinese companies from investing into US technology stocks. Gold continues to trade at discount on the back of stronger greenback which is the best performing currency from the G10 basket today. Brent trades flat while WTI drops ahead of the API report.

Last month’s CB consumer confidence print has shown the highest value since 2000. But today’s print was not as optimistic as the last one. In March the confidence of US consumers unexpectedly slid to 127.7 pts from 130 pts seen in February (revised down from 130.8 pts). Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected another increase in the consumer confidence so it should not be surprising that the result caused the greenback to dip against euro.

Litecoin was among the most hit cryptocurrencies on Monday which could be ascribed directly to the newest revelations coming from the company. Namely, the payments processor LitePay ceased operations prompting some concerns that the coin’s founder is setting the stage for selling the company. The communique is official as it came from the Litecoin Foundation saying that LitePay CEO Kenneth Asare informed the organization a “couple days ago” that “he has ceased all operations and is preparing to sell the company”.

The CB consumer confidence print disappointed somewhat yet its not the end of today’s macro releases. Oil traders still wait for the weekly API report on the oil inventories that can be used as a hint ahead of tomorrow’s official report.

Our analysis of the the best FX, indices and commodities markets in the first quarter of 2018 is available here.