The US Dollar traded broadly in the green on Tuesday after the release of the monthly US Consumer Price Index numbers, with the dollar index (USDX) ending the session with gains of 0.08%. The reading showed that inflation remained stickier than expected, feeding into concerns that the Federal Reserve will have little impetus to begin trimming interest rates. February’s headline US CPI inflation ticked up to 0.4%, rising from the previous 0.3%, with YoY CPI inflation rising to 3.2% compared to the forecast hold at 3.1%.
Still, markets maintained their bets that the Fed will have enough cause to begin cutting rates by June, with a 25 basis point reduction still on the cards, according to the CME Fedwatch tool.
In other news, gold prices retraced from recent highs of $2,189.27 per ounce, trading close to $2,150 per ounce after a strong U.S. inflation reading kept fears of higher-for-longer interest rates in play. Part of the drop was attributed to some profit-taking in the yellow metal with Investors now waiting for the upcoming FOMC statement due later this month.
Wall Street was back on a positive track on Tuesday, with all three main stock indices closing in on their recently reached record highs despite the release of sticky inflation data. The move was largely supported by the tech sector and specifically Oracle and Nvidia. Oracle Corporation gained by around 12% following stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings on increased demand for its AI offerings. The cloud computing firm said it will make a joint announcement with Nvidia this week, citing expectations of increased AI-led demand for cloud infrastructure. NVIDIA Corporation rose by almost 7%, while megacaps Alphabet, Microsoft Corporation and Meta Platforms also ended the session in the green.
On the cryptos front, the two main cryptocurrencies by market capitalization Bitcoin and Ethereum, hit new highs on Tuesday’s session but eventually ended in negative territory with the new regulatory progress of the sector being in the spotlight as it could increase investor demand.
In today’s session, some price action could be observed upon the release of UK GDP, Eurozone industrial production and US Crude Oil inventories.
WTI Oil
Oil prices retreated on Tuesday, settling slightly lower after a higher-than-expected forecast for U.S. crude oil production and bearish economic data, but persistent geopolitical tensions limited declines.
On Tuesday, OPEC stuck to its forecast for relatively strong growth in global oil demand in 2024 and 2025, and further raised its economic growth forecast for this year saying there was more room for improvement.
On the supply side, U.S. Energy Information Administration raised its 2024 outlook for domestic oil output growth by 260,000 barrels per day to 13.19 million barrels, versus a previously forecast rise of 170,000 bpd.
Hopes of a ceasefire in Israel's war against Hamas have faded, with negotiations deadlocked in Cairo while Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah continue to exchange fire.
US 500
U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Technology, Consumer Services and Industrials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the US 30 gained 0.51%, while the US 500 added 0.84%, and the US Tech 100 climbed 1.01%.
U.S. stocks took a hotter-than-expected inflation report in stride, underpinned by fresh bullish bets in tech. Treasury yields moved higher on the prospect of higher for longer interest rate path, but that did little to stem bullish bets on tech, led by Oracle and a rebound in Nvidia.
Oracle Corporation surged nearly 12% after reporting stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings on increased demand for its AI offerings.