Trump Acquitted; Bitcoin Nears $50k | Daily Articles | GKFX Prime

TAKEAWAYS

•    Trump is acquitted in Senate impeachment trial in 57-43 vote
•    Bitcoin reaches $49,700 – just shy of $50k
•    Dogecoin down 20% from Monday peak
•    All three US indices finish the week at record highs
•    Platinum rallies 10% on the week
•    WTI crude closed just shy of $60 per barrel (at $59.47)
•    Dollar ends the week lower, GBP rallying
•    Earnings this week: Shopify, Twilio, Walmart, Roku, Robinhood
•    WEEK AHEAD: US retail sales, FOMC minutes, ECB minutes, February PMIs
•    DAY AHEAD: President’s Day holiday, Japan industrial production, Germany indust. prod.

GURU WISDOM

“The key is not spending time, but in investing it.” – Stephen R. Covey

MARKETS

*Daily closing price
↘ EUR/USD    1.2120        (-0.08%)
↗ GBP/USD    1.3665        (+0.21%)
↗ USD/JPY    104.72        (+0.20%)
↗ S&P 500    3934.83    (+0.47%)
↗ Hang Seng    30,173.57    CLOSED
↘ Gold        1823.46    (-0.10%)
↗ Oil (Brent)    62.66        (+2.49%)
↗ Bitcoin    48,869        (+3.59%)

NEWS

Former US President Donald Trump was acquitted over the weekend, avoiding impeachment for a second time. Getting through the impeachment with arguably a little less acrimony in Washington DC should help the passing of the next covid relief package.

A firm belief that more stimulus is on the way, a strong earnings season coupled with a message from the Fed that low interest rates are here to stay all helped the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq close at record highs on Friday with weekly gains of 1%, 1.2% and 1.7% respectively. Many indices across Asia remain shut for the Lunar New Year, while Japan’s Nikkei inched lower after touching a 30-year high earlier in the week.

The US dollar closed the week lower, though doing little for the price of gold. A surprise jump in weekly jobless claims dislodged some the belief the US economy would be the outperformer thanks to the vaccine rollout and more stimulus. While gold languished, it was platinum that has rallied in the precious metals space, gaining 10% on the week.

Bitcoin soared 20% over the week propelled by the news Tesla is investing $1.5 billion of its spare cash into Bitcoin. 

Crude oil has been the standout gainer with WTI hot on the heels of Brent crude in crossing the $60 hurdle. Oil markets are looking overstretched though – the price of oil has gained 9 out of the past 10 days.

DAY AHEAD 

*Times in GMT
04:30 – Japan Industrial Production (MoM)(Dec) [-1.6 % Exp vs. -1.6 % Prev]
05:00 – US Presidents' Day 
10:00 – Germany Industrial Production s.a. (MoM)(Dec) [-0.6 % Exp vs. 2.5 % Prev]