Initial Jobless Claims

Key events: USA - Initial Jobless Claims USA - 30-Year Bond Auction The S&P 500 reversed its early gains to close lower on Wednesday, as a decline in Super Micro Computer impacted chip stocks and weighed on the broader market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 234 points, or 0.60%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.7%, and the NASDAQ Composite declined by 1%.

Key events: USA - Initial Jobless Claims Eurozone - HCOB Eurozone Manufacturing PMI (Apr) Eurozone - ECB's Lane Speaks US equities pared some of their losses following the Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates unchanged on Wednesday and announced plans to gradually reduce the pace of its balance sheet reduction program, known as quantitative tightening, starting next month.

Key events: USA - Initial Jobless Claims USA - Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index (Apr) USA - Existing Home Sales (Mar) Wednesday saw the S&P 500 finishing lower, as concerns over prolonged Federal Reserve interest rates weighed heavily on tech stocks, led by Nvidia's decline. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped by 45 points, equivalent to a 0.1% decrease, while the S&P 500 experienced a 0.6% decline, and the NASDAQ Composite fell by 1.2%.

Key events: Eurozone - ECB's Elderson Speaks UK - BoE MPC Member Mann Eurozone - ECB's Lane Speaks USA - Initial Jobless Claims USA - 30-Year Bond Auction On Wednesday, the S&P 500 marked a historic high, coming within reach of the 5,000 level, propelled by continued bullish sentiments in the stock market. Consumer stocks took the lead, spearheading the surge, particularly boosted by Chipotle and Ford's positive earnings reports.

Key events: USA - Thanksgiving Day Wednesday witnessed a rise in Wall Street's primary indices, fueled by optimism that the Federal Reserve had concluded its cycle of interest rate hikes. Despite this positive sentiment, escalating Treasury yields and lackluster earnings reports tempered the overall market gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4%, the S&P 500 rose 0.6%, and the NASDAQ Composite added 1.1%.

Key events: USA - Initial Jobless Claims USA - Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index (Jul) USA - Existing Home Sales (Jun) During Wednesday's evening trading, Dow futures were showing a decline after major benchmark averages reached new 15-month highs earlier in the day. Traders were closely examining the quarterly earnings results from significant companies that were reported throughout the session. The market was in a phase of digesting this corporate financial data to gauge its impact on future trends.

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Key events: UK - BoE Interest Rate Decision (May) UK - BoE MPC Meeting Minutes USA - Initial Jobless Claims USA - PPI (MoM) (Apr) UK - BoE Gov Bailey Speaks The softer-than-expected US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released on Wednesday has increased confidence in the market that a US Federal Reserve (Fed) rate hike pause in June is likely. The YoY CPI for April rose 4.9%, slightly lower than expectations of a 5.0% increase, while the monthly CPI in April rose 0.4% after gaining 0.1% in March.

Key events:         UK – BoE MPC Treasury Committee Hearings     Eurozone – EU Leaders Summit      USA – Initial Jobless Claims Yesterday we could see another day of record highs for the FTSE100, as European markets again outperformed US markets, which bounced back.

Key events:       USA – Core Durable Goods Orders (MoM) (Dec) USA – GDP (QoQ) (Q4)    USA – Initial Jobless Claims   USA – New Home Sales (Dec)    Although the U.S. PMI fell further in January, inflation did accelerate. It is still unclear whether the Fed should take a more dovish or hawkish stance – and that cannot help but affect gold.