TOPICS MENTIONED IN THIS MARKET BRIEFING:
- LEuropean Stock Exchangesturn to the ECB
- Wall Street down after Fed announcements
- Chart of the day –ETH/USD : rebound on a key level
European stock markets turn to the ECB
European Stock Exchanges progressed at the beginning of the session on Thursday, the rise in defensive stocks allowing the main indices to regain some of the ground lost the day before, even if concerns linked to monetary policies and the conflict in Ukraine are far from having disappeared.
The ‘minutes’ of the Fed’s March meeting reflect a growing concern among its leaders about inflation and show that only the war in Ukraine prevented them from announcing a half-point rate hike the month latest.
Investors are waiting at 1:30 p.m. for the minutes of the March meeting of the European Central Bank, which could provide them with new indications of its intentions to tighten its monetary policy. They will also monitor possible decisions by the European Union on the new sanctions being prepared against Moscow.
Wall Street ends lower after Fed announcements
Wall Street ended lower on Wednesday after the publication of the minutes of the March monetary policy meeting of the American Federal Reserve (Fed) showing the latter’s plan to gradually reduce its balance sheet.
According to the “minutes” of the March 15-16 meeting, Fed officials “broadly agreed” to trim the central bank’s balance sheet by $95 billion a month over three months or “slightly more.” .”
The prospect of more aggressive Fed policy rattled markets at the start of the year, weighing heavily on big tech stocks, which are more sensitive to rising US Treasury yields.
This climate of concern was fueled by the war in Ukraine, particularly for its inflationary effect on commodity prices.
Othersfinancial market news
The oil market is erasing some of its heavy losses on Wednesday, which took it to its lowest level in three weeks after the decision of member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) to draw 60 million barrels in their reserves, in addition to 180 million barrels announced by the United States, to curb the rise in prices at the pump.
Today’s economic calendar:
Find the full economic calendar to know all the economic events to comer.
CHART OF THE DAY – ETH/USD: rebound on a key level
The Fed minutes also impacted the cryptocurrency sector. Ethereum suffered some profit taking but prices are currently testing a support zone around $3250/$3170.
As a reminder, the market started a bullish recovery following an exit from the triangle on March 18, 2022. Thus, it is important to preserve the current price level to keep the positive momentum of recent weeks.
For the moment, the daily trend is not questioned and the buyers must absolutely defend the zone of the 3,200 dollars to restart the bullish momentum. In the event of a positive reaction on this threshold, a new leg up towards $3,700 is possible.
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