2023-11-01 10:04

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters. Oil prices saw a modest increase on Wednesday, in anticipation of important global central bank meetings, including a session by the US Federal Reserve. According to the American Petroleum Institute, US crude oil inventories experienced an increase of 1.3 million barrels last week. Meanwhile, Brent crude lingered near a three-week low at $85 per barrel, and WTI crude was nearing a month's low at approximately $81. October proved to be the worst month for Brent crude since August 2022, recording a 10% drop. On the other hand, Eurozone inflation decreased to a two-year low at 2.9% in October. The Bank of England is set to meet on Thursday. In China, factory activity contracted unexpectedly in October as indicated by the Caixin/S&P Global manufacturing PMI, leading to concerns about the pace of economic recovery. Despite these concerns, Goldman Sachs maintains an optimistic outlook, forecasting Brent prices to reach $100 per barrel by June next year. The start of November saw Spot and Futures gold and LME copper prices dip due to a strong dollar index and disappointing Chinese manufacturing data. This marks the third consecutive monthly loss for copper. Contrarily, Chile reported an increase in copper output in September with a total production of 457,393 tons, marking a 4.1% YoY growth. https://www.investing.com/news/commodities-news/oil-prices-see-slight-rise-ahead-of-key-central-bank-meetings-93CH-3216610

2023-11-01 09:52

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters. Bitcoin's (BTC/USD) price has seen a minor increase of less than 1% in the past day, reaching approximately $34,450. This is a level it has sustained for about a week, yet still shy of its recent peak of over $35,000. This peak was Bitcoin's highest since the severe bear market in May 2022. Since mid-October, Bitcoin has experienced a surge of around 30%, breaking through the previously stagnant crypto markets characterized by low volatility and trading volumes. According to Konstantin Shulga from Finery Markets, this rally represents growing investor optimism. Traders are anticipating Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approval for spot Bitcoin ETFs, which could spark increased investor interest and accelerate institutional adoption of digital assets. The digital currency's correlation with gold has been strengthened due to Middle Eastern geopolitical risks, enhancing the "digital gold" narrative. Meanwhile, its link with stock indices like the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 has weakened. The Federal Reserve's upcoming monetary policy decision is anticipated to influence these stock indices and Bitcoin which typically follows their trends. The central bank is expected to keep interest rates stable while potentially offering details on future borrowing costs. In other cryptocurrency news, Ether's price has slightly risen above $1,800. However, smaller tokens such as Cardano and Polygon have seen declines. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/bitcoin-nears-35000-mark-buoyed-by-etf-optimism-and-middle-eastern-geopolitical-risks-93CH-3216588

2023-11-01 09:04

In the past week, Ethereum has exhibited a strong presence in the crypto market by securing 76% of all deposited funds, contributing $6.68 billion to the $8.76 billion Total Value Locked (TVL) growth, according to ScopeProtocol. The digital currency processed transactions exceeding $9 billion, a record-breaking figure unseen since mid-June, underlining its capacity for peer-to-peer trading and liquidity provision. Analysts at DeFiance Capital anticipate a significant Ethereum price rally on the horizon if BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)'s spot Bitcoin ETF application receives approval. This development could potentially pave the way for an Ethereum ETF. At present, ETH stands at $1,808.96, experiencing a slight 24-hour decrease of 0.05%, but marking a weekly increase of 0.97%. The surge in Decentralized Exchange (DEX) volumes further emphasizes Ethereum's pivotal role in shaping crypto trading experiences. Beyond its technological prowess, Ethereum's appeal extends to its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) attributes as well as staking yield opportunities. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/ethereum-leads-with-76-share-in-total-value-locked-growth-93CH-3216478

2023-11-01 08:52

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is facing challenges in managing the volatility of the rupee due to a continuous decline in forex reserves, which fell by $2.36 billion to $583.53 billion for the week ending October 20th. This decrease occurred despite a $1.15 billion increase in the preceding week, and follows a five-month low during the week ended October 6th. On Wednesday, the rupee was trading at 83.27 against the US dollar in the pre-noon session, down from 83.25 in the previous session. The RBI has been intervening in the forex market to prevent the rupee from falling below a low of 83.29. However, this decline in reserves could limit RBI's intervention, potentially weakening the rupee. In addition, the rupee is forecasted to open at around 83.26-83.2650 against the U.S dollar, with a potential surge in buying if the RBI permits it above 83.30 while preventing it from falling below a record low of 83.29. Asian currencies are depreciating, while the U.S yield and dollar index (106.75) show minor increases. The Federal Reserve is anticipated to retain the policy rate at 5.25-5.50%, with potential softening of future rate hikes due to rising U.S yields as per some analysts' views and Morgan Stanley's expectations based on Fed Chair Powell's recent balanced risk outlook speech. NSDL data reveals foreign investors' activity on Oct. 30, with sales of $203.8mln worth of Indian shares and purchases of $8mln worth of Indian bonds. The one-month non-deliverable rupee forward is at 83.33, onshore one-month forward premium at 5.25 paisa, Brent crude futures rose to $85.3 per barrel, and ten-year U.S note yield is at 4.92%. A spot trader suggests that the Fed's decision won't significantly affect the rupee's range, adding another layer of complexity to the RBI's task of maintaining the rupee's stability amidst these various factors. https://www.investing.com/news/forex-news/rupees-stability-challenged-by-declining-forex-reserves-and-feds-decision-93CH-3216466

2023-11-01 08:45

Crypto derivatives exchange Bitget is currently facing a $10 million deficit following the unauthorized listing and subsequent delisting of a fake token, known as TOKEN. The platform had earlier ignored a request from the Floki team to postpone the listing of TOKEN until a week after the launch of their decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) proposal and Floki staking program. The premature listing led to trades worth millions, which created a liquidity issue as Bitget did not have sufficient assets for withdrawals. Most of TOKEN is locked in Floki’s staking pool, further complicating Bitget's attempts to buy an equivalent volume on other exchanges to resolve the deficit. To recover from this deficit, 10% of the TokenFi total supply is required. This situation has drawn criticism from Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ), who rebuked Bitget for its actions, stating they "messed with the wrong community," referring to the Floki Inu project’s FLOKI and TOKEN holders. Before this incident, Bitget had previously criticized Floki’s TOKEN treasury and vesting schedule. The ongoing situation highlights the complexities and risks associated with token listings on crypto exchanges. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/bitget-struggles-with-10-million-deficit-after-unauthorized-token-listing-93CH-3216461

2023-11-01 08:03

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters. Investing.com - The U.S. dollar edged higher in early European trade Wednesday ahead of the conclusion of the latest Federal Reserve meeting, while the yen remained near its one-year low. At 04:00 ET (08:00 GMT), the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, traded 0.1% higher at 106.612. Fed decision, Powell’s press conference in focus The U.S. dollar has continued to trade on the firm side as traders prepare for the conclusion of the latest policy-setting Fed meeting later in the day. While the central bank is expected to hold rates unchanged, it is also set to reiterate its higher-for-longer stance given recent data has pointed to a resilient economy despite a prolonged series of interest rate hikes - a scenario that bodes well for the dollar. “Additionally, the geopolitical background remains dollar positive, where any threat of escalation in the Middle East and what it could do to oil prices remains a dollar positive,” analysts at ING said, in a note. Comments from Chair Jerome Powell will take the spotlight as investors parse every word to gauge where interest rates are headed, particularly looking to see if Powell attempts to keep another hike on the table. Traders remain on yen intervention watch This dollar strength has been most apparent against the Japanese yen in the wake of the Bank of Japan’s latest policy meeting, at which the Japanese central bank decided to keep interest rates negative, while only making minimal changes to its yield curve control policy. The “BoJ meeting has not triggered the reset on how we view the yen and the risk is now that USD/JPY pushes ahead to 152 and prompts the central bank into aggressive FX intervention,” said ING. The BOJ intervened in the government bond market earlier Wednesday to rein in a jump in yields, after the benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond yield rose 2 basis points to 0.970% on Wednesday, a level last seen in May 2013. This has helped USD/JPY drop 0.2% to 151.31, but the Japanese currency remains close to the one-year low of 151.74 it hit on Tuesday and the three-decade low of 151.94 touched last year, which triggered an intervention by Tokyo at the time. Masato Kanda, Japan's top currency diplomat, said authorities were on "standby" to respond to yen's recent "one-sided, sharp" falls, but it may need actual intervention instead of stern comments to stop more yen weakness. Euro slips lower ahead of Powell’s comments EUR/USD fell 0.1% to 1.0562, in the wake of data showing prices rose by just 2.9% in the euro zone in October, their slowest pace since July 2021. The European Central Bank must keep interest rates sufficiently high for long enough because inflation in the euro zone has not been conquered despite a significant fall in the past year, ECB policymaker Joachim Nagel said on Tuesday. However, this data feeds into the narrative that the ECB is done tightening, and the euro could see more weakness if Fed Chair Powell is deemed to be hawkish later in the session. Chinese private PMIs disappoint USD/CNY rose 0.1% to 7.3194, with sentiment towards the Chinese yuan remaining largely negative, as a private PMI survey showed that China’s manufacturing sector contracted in October. The reading followed a government survey on Tuesday which showed a similar decline, and saw markets grow even more doubtful over a Chinese economic rebound this year. Elsewhere, GBP/USD traded largely flat at 1.2154, with Nationwide house prices rising in October ahead of the Bank of England’s latest policy meeting later in the week. https://www.investing.com/news/forex-news/dollar-edges-higher-ahead-of-fed-decision-yen-remains-weak-3216365