Tag: U.S. Dollar (NYBOT:DX.H18.E)

Hello traders everywhere. The DOW, S&P 500 and NASDAQ are lower on the day and ending the week lower after the 10-year yield rose quickly to 2.84%, a four-year high. This will be the first weekly loss of 2018 and the largest weekly loss in over a year. Is that a signal of things to come in February?

The U.S. economy added 200,000 jobs in January, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists had expected growth of 180,000. Wages, meanwhile, rose 0.3% last month, in line with expectations.

The report sent interest rates higher. The benchmark 10-year yield rose to 2.84% on the back of the report, hitting a four-year high. Investors have been jittery about the recent rise in interest rates, worrying they may be rising too fast. On Thursday, the 30-year yield rose to 3.074%, its highest level since March.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), the most widely followed gauge measure of stock market volatility, rose to 14.48, after having fallen in the previous two sessions.

Key levels to watch next week: Continue reading "Stocks Fall As Interest Rates Rise" →

Hello traders everywhere. The two-day sell-off continues in the stock market, and it is gaining steam as we head into afternoon trading. The DOW traded lower, as much as 352 points, hammered by a rise in bond yields and a decline in healthcare companies after Amazon, JPMorgan, and Berkshire Hathaway announced that they would form an independent healthcare company to serve their employees in the United States.

This announcement has caused a wave of panic selling in the healthcare sector with Cigna (CI) leading the way by falling over 6% followed by UnitedHealth Group (UNH) falling over 4% on the day. While there hasn't been a lot of information released, it indeed was shot across the bow of the U.S. healthcare business.

The 10-year Treasury yield rose above 2.73%; it's highest level since April 2014. This rise is leading up to the Federal Reserve monetary policy decision which could help shed more light on the outlook for interest rates this year.

The Fed's ongoing two-day meeting will be watched for comments that could raise the likelihood of rates being hiked four times this year, instead of three, especially as inflation readings have firmed in recent readings.

Key levels to watch this week: Continue reading "The Stock Market Sell-Off Continues" →

Hello traders everywhere. Both the DOW and the S&P 500 have hit new intra-day highs and are looking to close out the week at record highs. This latest move higher has been driven by a weaker U.S. Dollar and a strong earnings season so far.

This week has seen some overall market volatility, but a strong finish today will put the three main indexes on track for their best four-week rally since 2016.

The latest saga in the Bitcoin/cryptocurrency space continues to be a lack of regulation. One of Japan's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Coincheck, said that about $400 million in NEM tokens were lost after the coins were sent "illicitly" outside the venue, spooking investors in a country that's still wary of digital-token exchanges four years after the collapse of Mt. Gox.

Cryptocurrency exchanges, many of which operate with little to no regulation, have suffered a series of outages and hacks amid the trading boom that propelled Bitcoin and its peers to record highs last year. What lasting effect will these continued hacks and outages have on the cryptocurrency space moving forward?

Key levels to watch next week: Continue reading "Stocks Rise On Strong Earnings" →

Hello traders everywhere. The U.S. dollar hit new lows on Wednesday after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin made comments at the Global Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, saying that he welcomed its weakness.

Fear of protectionism from the U.S. economy had already pushed the dollar to a three-year low, but Mnuchin's comments added to the pressure that's been pushing it down for the year, with the effects rippling across markets as growth in European and emerging-nation economies continues to accelerate past America.

President Donald Trump is scheduled to arrive and speak at the conference Thursday, and many investors fear that he and his team will continue to talk about a trade war and signal a more protectionist policy stance.

Key levels to watch this week: Continue reading "U.S. Dollar Hits New Lows" →