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Top Daily News

The biggest news this week came from the U.S. capital. After a week of threats regarding tariffs on Europe and the Greenland deal, President Trump appears to have softened his stance (it’s the same approach all over again - threaten with something horrible then change your mind and suggest something less vile and somehow everybody is okay with it). However, the focus has quickly shifted to Canada, with new threats of 100% tariffs surfacing over their potential trade deals with China (death by a thousand paper cuts - slow erosion of democratic values ​​and institutions, often through escalating  changes that go unnoticed until significant damage has been done). 

On the U.S front, PCE came in at 2.8% for the year, which is still above the government's 2% target. Because of this, the market now expects the Federal Reserve to wait until June or September to start cutting interest rates
 

Forex News

The live dollar index has been holding steady as traders weigh the possibility of fewer interest rate cuts this year.

• EURUSD: The Euro caught a bit of a bounce toward 1.18 after the U.S. backed off from immediate tariff threats against European nations.
• GBPUSD: The Pound is benefiting from a similar "relief rally," currently trading near 1.36, though everyone is keeping a close eye on the UK's own economic growth signals.
• USDJPY: Over in Japan, the Yen strengthened slightly after the Bank of Japan kept rates steady but hinted at future hikes. Still, the pair is hovering around the 158 mark.
• AUDUSD: The Aussie dollar is stuck in the middle, trying to balance strong local metal exports against the trade war talk affecting its neighbors.
   

Stock Market News

S&P 500 Index and the Dow Jones Index both hit fresh all-time highs this week, fueled by strong earnings from big banks. The Nasdaq Index followed suit, gaining nearly 1% as tech stocks regained their footing.

Nikkei Index edged higher to over 53,800 after the central bank's update. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index saw modest gains of 0.3%, though investors remain cautious about China's property sector.

ASX 200 had a solid week, largely thanks to a massive jump in mining and energy stocks.
 

Commodity Market News

The energy market is between supply fears and peace hopes. Earlier in the week, prices for Brent and WTI Crude jumped on news of U.S. naval movements and new sanctions on Iranian oil. However, as the week closes, some of that "fear premium" went away (take the price movement and rationalization with a grain of salt). Brent is currently sitting just under $66, while WTI Crude is trading near $61. There was also a fire at one of their largest oil fields in Kazakhstan.
 

Gold Market News

XAUUSD hit new all-time highs this week, briefly touching near $5,000. It might cool off, but overall vibe remains very bullish. Many analysts are now thinking about gold settling around $5,000 milestone if geopolitical tensions don't settle down soon.
 

Cryptocurrency Market News

BTCUSD has been flirting with the $90,000 level, price dropped earlier because investors were worried about the economy and sold some assets, but whales bought more Bitcoin at those lower prices, which kept the price from falling further.

ETHUSD followed a similar path, staying mostly steady above $3,000. While it hasn't quite seen the explosive growth of some smaller coins this week, it remains the anchor for the rest of the altcoin market.

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