NOTABLE MOVES 

As of Tue, Jan 08, 08:00 Singapore Time Zone UTC+8

USDJPY, +0.08%, $108.63
EURUSD, +0.60%, $1.1479
GBPUSD, +0.42%, $1.2786
USDCAD, -0.54%, $1.3297
AUDUSD, +0.29%, $0.7145
NZDUSD, +0.18%, $0.6754

S&P500, +0.70%, 2,549.69
Nasdaq, +1.26%, 6,823.47
Nikkei Futures, +0.02%, 20,145.0

CURRENCY MARKET WRAP 

• The ISM Non-Manufacturing Index slipped to 57.6% in December  from 60.7% in November. The key takeaway from the report is that it followed the ISM Manufacturing Index in showing a slowdown in activity in December. That is in keeping with the market’s perception of economic matters and threatens to bleed into a slowdown in earnings growth.
• U.S. Treasuries started the session in positive territory, but spent the bulk of the day in a retreat that coincided with a rally in the stock market. The 2-yr yield rose four basis points to 2.52%, and the 10-yr yield added two basis points to 2.68%. The U.S. Dollar Index fell -0.5% to 95.70, reaching its lowest close since mid-October.
• Euro caught bids amid renewed protests in France and Hungary. Not only does this unrest raise political and social concerns, it also inhibits the recovery in France and could restrain growth for the Eurozone as a whole.  Euro traders were pleased to see the sharp recovery in German and Eurozone retail sales, but the manufacturing sector continues to struggle with factory orders falling a steep -1% in November, against a forecast of -0.2%.
• In the past 4 trading days, USD/CAD has fallen from a high of 1.3665 to a low of 1.3279. The combination of rising oil prices, a stronger IVEY PMI report (59.7 vs expected 58.1) and risk appetite took the pair to its lowest level in nearly a month.

 STOCK MARKET WRAP 

• The major averages opened the session to some tepid buying interest. The S&P 500 briefly dipped into negative territory (-0.3%), but the pullback didn’t gain any traction as the benchmark index steadily climbed to session highs (+1.4%) by early afternoon.This resilience to selling efforts following huge gains last Friday created some fear of missing out on further gains that helped drive up prices. Stocks, however, began to lose steam at around 1:45 p.m. ET, shortly after Trump tweeted that he will address the nation over border security Tuesday evening. Notable movers included PG&E (PCG 18.95, -5.45) plunging 22.3% amid a possible bankruptcy filing and Loxo Oncology (LOXO 232.65, +92.78) soaring 66.3% after an offer to be acquired by Eli Lilly (LLY 115.28, +0.62, +0.5%) at a 68% premium over its Friday closing price. PG&E was an influential drag on the utilities sector.

NOTABLE MOVES 

As of Sat, Jan 05, 08:00 Singapore Time zone UTC+8

USDJPY, +0.64%, $108.53
EURUSD, +0.04%, $1.1395
GBPUSD, +0.81%, $1.2730
USDCAD, -0.81%, $1.3368
AUDUSD, +1.65%, $0.7121
NZDUSD, +0.64%, $0.6731

S&P500, +3.43%, 2,531.94
Nasdaq, +4.26%, 6,738.86
Nikkei Futures, +3.49%, 20,082.5

CURRENCY MARKET WRAP 

• Nonfarm payrolls exceeded expectations with an increase of 312,000, while average hourly earnings increased 0.4%, lifting the year-over-year growth rate to 3.2%. There were some market concerns about how the Fed would respond to the strong jobs report. The latest comments from Powell, however, eased those concerns, evident from stocks soaring to session highs, and maintaining their gains. Some talking points from the Fed Chair that soothed the market included:
• The Fed will remain patient given the muted reading on inflation,
• Monetary policy will be nimble and shift if necessary, and
• His softer tone regarding previous comments on the Fed’s balance sheet reduction path being on autopilot.
• U.S. Treasuries ended the week sharply lower, surrendering their gains from Thursday. The 2-yr yield dropped 10 basis points to 2.48%, and the 10-yr yield dropped 11 basis points to 2.66%. The U.S. Dollar Index lost -0.1% to 96.17.

 STOCK MARKET WRAP 

• The S&P 500 gained 3.43% on Friday, as Powell signaled patience and flexibility on rates in light of stronger-than-expected jobs data. Friday’s gains helped the benchmark index secure a weekly gain of 1.9%. All 11 S&P 500 sectors closed the session in the green, with gains ranging from 1.0% (real estate) to 4.4% (information technology). Apple (AAPL 148.26, +6.07, +4.3%), for its part, recouped nearly half of its losses from Thursday.The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) fell 4.1 points to 21.38, reaching its lowest level since mid-December.

Kraken Swamped by US Subpoenas, AMD Partners Crypto Studio

The popular cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has released statistics about the volumes and global breakdown of its information requests from authorities during 2018. The data shows that the number of subpoenas has almost tripled from just 160 in 2017 to 475. The numbers also highlight how much of a burden complying with American demands actually is. New York-based trading platform Gemini has launched a controversial marketing campaign across NYC. Ads posted on outdoor billboards, subway stations and taxis by the exchange are proclaiming that “The Revolution Needs Rules” and “Crypto Without Chaos” suggesting that government regulations are good for investors. Also, Consensys, the crypto software studio that was reported to cut over half of its employees last month, has teamed up with one of the companies that suffered most from the decline in the sale of GPUs to cryptocurrency miners last year – AMD. In collaboration with Abu Dhabi-based Halo Holdings, they will develop optimized data-center solutions for emerging blockchain workloads through the creation of W3bcloud. The initiative is focused on providing an independent cloud computing blockchain infrastructure and plans to develop optimized solutions powered by AMD hardware.

Crypto-Friendly Statesman Takes Over Swiss Presidency

On Dec. 5, Ulrich ‘Ueli’ Maurer was elected by the Swiss parliament for a one-year term in 2019 with the impressive support of 201 out of 209 members. Ueli Maurer is among those politicians who saw the threat to Switzerland’s leadership in the crypto space. In May, he invited representatives of the Swiss financial regulator Finma, the Swiss National Bank, and the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) to a roundtable discussion on the matter. Following the meeting, SBA formed a working group to solve the problem. It was tasked to create a set of procedures for banks to follow when opening accounts for entities transacting with cryptocurrencies. Some Swiss banks have since then started to accept clients from the crypto sector. During the G20 finance ministers’ meeting in Buenos Aires last July, Maurer shared his country’s position on cryptocurrencies, emphasizing that digital assets and distributed ledger technologies bring great potential for financial services. At the summit, Switzerland also insisted on a uniform international approach in order to prevent double taxation in the digital economy.

Thousands of Banned Binance Customers Remain Cut off by the Exchange

Binance, the world’s second largest digital asset exchange by traded volume, has withdrawn its services from countries targeted by U.S. economic sanctions, in line with its controversial revised terms of use. However, the ban affects entire populations in countries such as Zimbabwe, where U.S. restrictions are supposed to specifically target individuals and companies. Binance users in Iran, Belarus, Serbia, Bosnia, Myanmar and other restricted jurisdictions have reportedly been cut off for a month now after the global exchange sent a notice of termination. Although Binance’s terms now prohibit individuals and countries on the U.N. Security Council and the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department (OFAC) sanctions lists, Russia is conspicuously exempt. The latest Binance terms of use read, in part, “By accessing and using Binance and any of its services, you acknowledge and declare that you are not on any trade or economic sanctions lists, such as the UN Security Council Sanctions list or OFAC.”  These sanctions typically freeze assets of targeted countries, curtail financial transfers to individuals or states as well as suspend services to those on the embargo list.

 

As of Fri, Jan 04, 08:00 Singapore Time zone UTC+8

USDJPY, +0.39%, $107.86
EURUSD, +0.70%, $1.1394
GBPUSD, +0.91%, $1.2630
USDCAD, -1.13%, $1.3478
AUDUSD, +1.33%, $0.7010
NZDUSD, +0.90%, $0.6690

S&P500, -2.48%, 2,447.89
Nasdaq, -3.04%, 6,463.50
Nikkei Futures, +0.09%, 19,382.0

CURRENCY MARKET WRAP 

• U.S. ISM Manufacturing PMI 54.1 vs expected 57.7. The key takeaway from the report is that the December decrease was fuelled by a sharp pullback in the New Orders component, which is the same element that lifted the November ISM Manufacturing Index into the neighbourhood of its high from 2018.
• Fears over growth and corporate earnings had investors flocking to risk-free U.S. Treasuries. Consequently, the 2-yr yield and 10-yr yield fell 11 basis points each, to 2.38% and 2.55%, respectively. The rally in Treasuries took place amid building expectations for a rate cut by the end of the year. The fed funds futures market now sees a 46.1% implied likelihood of a rate cut in December, up sharply from yesterday’s implied probability of just 9.6%. The U.S. Dollar Index lost -0.6% to 96.23.

 STOCK MARKET WRAP 

• The S&P 500 dropped -2.48% on Thursday, as a revenue warning from Apple (AAPL 142.19, -15.73, -10.0%) and weak manufacturing data stoked worries about a slowdown in global economic growth. Apple rattled the market when it lowered its revenue guidance for the first time since 2002. CEO Tim Cook attributed the lower outlook to weaker demand in China, where the economy has been decelerating notably. Selling accelerated after the ISM Manufacturing Index for December came in below consensus at 54.1, falling from 59.3 in November. While growth concerns are not new, Thursday’s setbacks exacerbated fears that economic growth might be slowing more quickly than anticipated, which would present a headwind to corporate earnings.
• Delta Air Lines (DAL 45.61, -4.48), for its part, fell -8.9% after its pre-announced fourth quarter results included softer than expected unit revenue.

 

Chilean Treasury Launches Blockchain Platform to Process Public Payments
The Chilean General Treasury of the Republic (TGR),  a dependent institution under the Ministry of Finance has launched a blockchain platform to process payments. The platform stores transactions that are processed by Chilean public institutions such tax payments or patent fees on blockchain. Before recording the transaction, all nodes participating in the process are obliged to approve it. Allegedly, a common database used both by government, institutions and banks will help to eliminate data discrepancies, reduce time spent on payments, as well as cut operational costs, while providing the necessary level of security for personal data. The Chilean government is exploring blockchain in several areas, including the energy and finance sectors. In April, Chile’s national energy regulation organization announced the launch of a project based on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain to record data from the nation’s energy sector.

 

Nasdaq-Powered Exchange to Launch EU-Regulated Tokenized Stock Trading
Estonian digital trading platform DX Exchange will begin offering tokenized stocks on the Ethereum blockchain next week. DX, which will reportedly be the first exchange to offer such trading in a fully regulated environment in the European Union, will use Nasdaq’s Financial Information exchange (FIX) protocol to deliver the product. According to the company’s press release, cryptocurrency users will be able to purchase tokens that will be backed by stocks in various major companies, including Google, Facebook and Amazon. The shares will be purchased on users’ behalf by MPS MarketPlace Securities Ltd., with which DX has an exclusive partnership agreement. DX first appeared as a concept in May last year, with the latest move making it a regulated trading environment for cryptocurrency, fiat currency and digital stocks. Nasdaq has already dedicated itself to a future involving cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, with its own Bitcoin futures contracts rumored to launch in the first half of 2019.

 

Thai National Tech Development Center to Introduce Blockchain in Voting
The National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC) of Thailand has developed blockchain technology for e-voting. NECTEC is a statutory government organization that operates under the purview of the National Science and Technology Development Agency and the Ministry of Science and Technology. The organization chiefly promotes the development of computing, electronics, IT and telecommunications. The technology reportedly can be deployed in tandem with traditional voting as Thais become more technologically literate. According to NECTEC, once 5G is eventually adopted, all votes will be connected with the new technology.  In order for the system to function, it requires a controller, voters and candidates. Prior to the election, the controller can verify voter identity and candidate qualifications. Voters will purportedly be able to vote by email and must be verified by mobile camera. Other countries have also been considering using blockchain technology to secure and conduct election processes. Following the 2018 federal mid-term elections in the United States, the Secretary of State of West Virginia reported a successful trial of mobile blockchain voting for West Virginians in the armed services stationed overseas.

As of Thu, Jan 03, 08:00 Singapore Time zone UTC+8

USDJPY, -2.08%, $107.43
EURUSD, -1.30%, $1.1315
GBPUSD, -1.85%, $1.2516
USDCAD, -0.05%, $1.3632
AUDUSD, -1.91%, $0.6918
NZDUSD, -1.30%, $0.6630

S&P500, +0.13%, 2,510.03
Nasdaq, +0.46%, 6,665.94
Nikkei Futures, -2.62%, 19,365.0

CURRENCY MARKET WRAP 

• A FX flash crash gripped currency markets in early Asian trading on Thursday as the break of key technical levels triggered massive stop-loss sales of the Dollar and Aussie dollars in thin markets. Most major currencies collapsed against the Yen in a matter of seconds. The move was attributed to a liquidity void, with Japan still on holiday after the New Year. There was speculation that the catalyst was tech bellwether Apple Inc, when they shocked investors by cutting its earnings guidance, citing sluggish iPhone sales in China. The news sent U.S. stock futures sliding and sparked a rush of funds to safe-haven bonds.
• The U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.7% to 96.82. Longer-dated U.S. Treasuries extended gains, pressuring yields. The 2-yr yield declined one basis point to 2.49%, and the 10-yr yield declined three basis points to 2.66%.

STOCK MARKET WRAP

• Wall Street finished slightly higher on Wednesday despite global economic growth concerns and volatility extending their reach into 2019. The S&P 500 managed to squeeze out a gain of 0.13% after being down as much as -1.6% in the opening minutes. Stocks opened sharply lower after weak economic data from China reminded investors that a slowing Chinese economy could adversely impact global growth and corporate earnings growth. The latest data showed a contraction in China’s manufacturing sector for the first time since May 2017 (Caixin Manufacturing PMI at 49.7 vs expected 50.1). Energy stocks abruptly reversed course after oil prices swung into positive territory. WTI crude increased 2.0% to $46.38/bbl after reports that Saudi Arabia decreased its crude exports in December by roughly 500,000 barrels per day.
• In early Thursday, Apple (AAPL) warned investors to expect lower sales from the holiday quarter due primarily to “lower than anticipated” iPhone sales in China amid an ongoing trade war with the U.S., as well as other factors like the company offering cheaper iPhone battery replacements. Apple now expects revenue for the three months ending in December to be about $84 billion, down from an earlier estimated range of between $89 billion and $93 billion. In his letter to investors, Cook touted continued traction in Apple’s “non-iPhone businesses,” including wearable devices and supplementary services, like iCloud, Apple Pay and the App Store. But he admitted that the downward revision of its sales forecast is “disappointing.” Apple fell -7.48% in after hours trading.

Customs authorities in Saudi Arabia have concluded a pilot scheme linking its cross-border trade platform FASAH with IBM and Maersk’s TradeLens blockchain platform. TradeLens is intended to be a basis for digital supply chains and launched with almost 100 entities willing to take part in the pilot. For Saudi Arabia, the move forms part of authorities’ desire to expand the country’s economy via the Vision 2030 initiative. According to Saudi Customs governor Ahmed Alhakbani, the recent pilot to link FASAH to the TradeLens platform clearly illustrates that they are on the right track. In line with its neighbor, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Riyadh has stepped up activities aimed at integrating blockchain technology at state level in recent months.

Top Cryptos See Modest Gains After Short Wavering

The top 20 coins are seeing moderate gains over the 24-hour period. Bitcoin has scaled back above $3,800 after falling below the mark earlier. Bitcoin (BTC) is up 3.1 percent and is trading at $3,863.18. On its weekly chart, the major cryptocurrency is still down by over five percent, and is lower than the Dec. 29 high of $3,961. Ripple (XRP), is up over three percent on the day and is currency trading at $0.362, down from a weekly high of $0.390 on Dec. 26. Ethereum and XRP have market capitalizations of $14.7 billion and $14.79 billion, respectively and Ethereum is up nearly six percent on the day and is trading at $141. Some altcoins that are seeing gains are Bitcoin SV and Monero (XMR), which are up 7.74 percent and 5.47 percent over the 24-hour period. Total crypto market capitalization is currently $129.8 billion, down slightly from its weekly high of $134.3 billion.

Japan: E-commerce Giant DMM Shutters Crypto Mining Business Due to Declining Profitability

Japanese e-commerce conglomerate DMM.com Ltd. will shut down its crypto mining business, citing deteriorating profitability as the main cause. The decision was reportedly taken in September 2018, and initial steps to dismantle mining operations — including selling the company’s mining hardware — will extend over the first half of 2019. DMM.com, which has over 27 million clients for its e-commerce business, first announced its entry into the crypto mining business in September 2017, with a focus on mining major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Litecoin (LTC). DMM is also reconsidering its launch of a crypto trading app dubbed “Cointap,” which had been slated for release on Dec. 25 2018. The company reportedly considers that both the bearish crypto market and the high-profile hack of Japanese crypto exchange Coincheck in January 2018 have made attracting new traders to the sector more difficult. There has been no indication that DMM will cease to operate its regulated cryptocurrency exchange. Also, Japanese internet giant GMO Internet Group has recently announced it will no longer develop, manufacture and sell Bitcoin miners, after reporting high losses in Q4 2018.

NOTABLE MOVES 

As of Wed, Jan 02, 08:00 Singapore Time zone UTC+8

USDJPY, +0.09%, $109.68
EURUSD, -0.07%, $1.1461
GBPUSD, -0.05%, $1.2752
USDCAD, -0.11%, $1.3623
AUDUSD, -0.06%, $0.7048
NZDUSD, -0.09%, $0.6713

S&P500, +0.85%, 2,506.85 (31st Dec Close)
Nasdaq, +0.77%, 6,635.28 (31st Dec Close)
Nikkei Futures, +0.32%, 19,885.0

MARKET WRAP 

• Thin trading conditions for most of 31st Dec 2018 contributed to another volatile session on Monday, though all 11 S&P 500 sectors did finish in the green. The health care (+1.4%) and consumer discretionary (+1.1%) sectors remained constant leaders, while the real estate (unch) and utilities (+0.2%) sectors underperformed. Stocks jumped out to a gain of 1.0%, helped by another hopeful trade tweet from Trump, but the early advance provided another excuse to sell into strength. The benchmark index would slip into negative territory (-0.1%) at around 11:30 a.m. ET. The S&P 500 quickly recovered and traded in positive territory for the rest of the day, but not with the same confidence that contributed to its strong start. Buying conviction was reserved with no news catalysts or economic data to sway investors, until a last minute swarm of buyers pushed the indices to near session highs.
• U.S. Treasuries ended the abbreviated bond market session with gains across the curve, despite the positive disposition in the stock market. The 2-yr yield decreased two basis points to 2.50%, and the 10-yr yield decreased five basis points to 2.69%, reaching its lowest level since February.

The Iranian government has taken further steps against Telegram’s cryptocurrency development, the Tehran Times reports Dec. 31. Secretary of the Criminal Content Definition Task Force Javad Javidnia has declared that any cooperation with the encrypted messaging app to launch its Gram token will be considered an act against national security and a disruption to the national economy. Iran first banned the app in April when supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that government agencies would no longer use the app. The country’s judiciary subsequently forbade its use altogether. In December 2017, Iran temporarily blocked Telegram and photo-sharing app Instagram in order to “maintain peace” amid widespread protests. Prior to the ban, Iranian officials criticized the app, stating that its initial coin offering (ICO) was potentially “undermining the national currency of Iran.” The go-to messaging app of the crypto industry was also banned in Russia due to concerns over its ICO, with the possibility of a “completely uncontrolled financial system” reportedly leading to the block.

India: Media Reports Central Bank Has Postponed ‘Crypto-Rupee’ Plans

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is pausing its plans to release a digital currency, Indian business news outlet the Hindu Business Line reported on Jan. 1. India’s central bank had originally announced its intentions to consider a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in April of this year, at the time noting the establishment of an interdepartmental group to look into potential advantages and feasibility. In August, RBI confirmed the creation of the group, specifying that it was researching a CBDC that would be backed the rupee for reasons including the cost of printing paper and the rising popularity of using digital tokens. Now, amid confusion over the group’s exact findings, which remain a mystery, Delhi has apparently had a change of heart.

Senator and Crypto Critic Elizabeth Warren Enters 2020 US Presidential Race

United States Senator and cryptocurrency critic Elizabeth Warren has announced her bid for President in 2020, the New York Times reported on Dec. 31. Following her announcement, Sen. Warren made plans to visit the state of Iowa, which hosts the first presidential caucuses in the country in February 2020. Warren is the senior U.S. senator from Massachusetts and has held office in the Senate since 2013. The senator is known for her criticism of cryptocurrencies, having repeatedly expressed concerns that cryptocurrency consumers could be hurt by scam initial coin offerings (ICOs) while also stating that crypto is “easy to steal.”

NOTABLE MOVES 

As of Sat, Dec 29, 08:00 Singapore Time Zone UTC+8

USDJPY, -0.65%, $110.28
EURUSD, +0.07%, $1.1438
GBPUSD, +0.50%, $1.2707
USDCAD, +0.15%, $1.3639
AUDUSD, +0.11%, $0.7044
NZDUSD, +0.15%, $0.6714

S&P500, -0.12%, 2,485.74
Nasdaq, +0.08%, 6,584.52
Nikkei Futures, -0.10%, 20,000.0

MARKET WRAP 

• The U.S. Dollar Index lost -0.1% to 96.34. The Chicago PMI, decreased to 65.4 in December from 66.4 in November. The December pullback took place after the Index soared by nearly eight points in November. The key takeaway from the report is that the overall reading remained elevated thanks to strong order backlogs and an increase in the Production Index. U.S. Treasuries remained resilient to selling pressure with the 2-yr yield and 10-yr yield decreasing one basis point each to 2.52% and 2.74%, respectively.
• The S&P 500 lost -0.12% on Friday in what was another whipsaw day of trading that saw the S&P 500 up as much 1.3% at its high and down as much as -0.6% at its low. The S&P 500 sectors finished mixed with energy (-0.9%) and materials (-0.6%) underperforming the broader market. Conversely, the consumer discretionary (+0.3%) and real estate (+0.2%) sectors outperformed.

 

Chinese Survey Finds Nearly 40 Percent of Respondents Would Invest in Crypto
A Chinese survey of 4,200 respondents has shown that 40 percent are willing to invest in crypto in the future. According to the answers gathered during the crypto-related survey, about half of all the respondents had heard of the following terms: cryptocurrency, digital currency or Bitcoin (BTC). On the other hand, 63 percent of the respondents believe that there is no necessity for crypto as a means of payment. As well, only 22.2 percent of the surveyed individuals were aware of the concept of blockchain-powered tokens. The Chinese government recently released its latest ranking of cryptocurrencies, which places Bitcoin in 18th place and EOS at the top. The second place is held by the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, Ethereum (ETH). Also, a more recent survey conducted by the German Federal Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media (Bitkom) revealed that over-one third of big German businesses consider blockchain as revolutionary as the internet.

 

White Hat Hackers Earned $878,000 from Crypto Bug Bounties in 2018
White hat hackers have been awarded $878,000 in bug bounties this year. Bug bounties are a type of competition in which companies that develop software invite hackers to break their software and responsibly disclose the vulnerabilities, so they are able to fix them before they are exploited. hackers earned $534,500 on HackerOne, a bug bounty platform connecting companies with hackers just from Block.one, the company which stands behind EOS. In fact, Block.one is reportedly responsible for 60 percent of all the bounties handed in this year. Major cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is reportedly the second-largest bounty spender and spent $290,381 in 2018. Tron is third-largest bounty spender, reportedly paying $76,200 this year. Nearly four percent of all bounties awarded on the platform were for blockchain vulnerabilities, a HackerOne spokesman told TheNextWeb. The average prize in the blockchain industry was $1,490 this year, while the average HackerOne bounty in Q4 2018 was about $900.

 

Nvidia Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over Losses After Diminished Mining GPU Demand
Graphics processing unit (GPU) producer Nvidia is facing a class action lawsuit over the losses reported by the company when lower crypto prices diminished demand for GPUs by miners. The complaint states that “the Company made false and misleading statements to the market.” Namely, according to the announcement, Nvidia “touted its ability to monitor the cryptocurrency market and make rapid changes to its business as necessary.” The GPU producer also declared: “Any drop off in demand for its GPUs amongst cryptocurrency miners would not negatively impact the Company’s business because of strong demand for GPUs from the gaming market.” After the cryptocurrency mining crash, Nvidia was the worst reported performer in S&P 500. After a massive sell-off of its shares, the stock price of the company fell by 54 percent.

NOTABLE MOVES 

As of Fri, Dec 28, 08:00 Singapore Time Zone UTC+8

USDJPY, -0.47%, $110.84
EURUSD, +0.69%, $1.1431
GBPUSD, +0.09%, $1.2645
USDCAD, +0.37%, $1.3622
AUDUSD, -0.45%, $0.7035
NZDUSD, -0.43%, $0.6701

S&P500, +0.86%, 2,488.83
Nasdaq, +0.38%, 6,579.49
Nikkei Futures, +2.90%, 19,952.5

MARKET WRAP 

• Thursday’s stock market featured another tale of two sessions. The bulk of the trading day was marred by an inclination to sell into strength, which fed into worries that this market had more downside to come. The last part of the trading day, however, featured a huge rally from session lows that eviscerated the downbeat sentiment seen in the first part of the day. The S&P 500, down as much as -2.8% at its low for the day, ended the session up 0.86% with all of its gains recorded within the last two hours of trading.
• There wasn’t much news really to account for the negative disposition, although growth concernswere a factor following the release of a weaker than expected Consumer Confidence report for December (CB Consumer Confidence  128.1 vs expected 133.7), an ECB economic bulletin that pointed to slower global growth in 2019, and the first decline in China’s industrial profits (-1.8% yr/yr in November) in three years. U.S. Treasuries closed on a higher note, pushing yields lower, before stocks mounted their late-inning rally. The 2-yr yield declined seven basis points to 2.53%, and the 10-yr yield declined five basis points to 2.74%. The U.S. Dollar Index lost 0.5% to 96.52.

NOTABLE MOVES 

As of Thurs, Dec 27, 08:00 Singapore Time Zone UTC+8

USDJPY, +0.85%, $111.22
EURUSD, -0.01%, $1.1361
GBPUSD, -0.32%, $1.2647
USDCAD, -0.11%, $1.3575
AUDUSD, +0.53%, $0.7074
NZDUSD, +0.19%, $0.6739

S&P500, +4.96%, 2,467.70
Nasdaq, +5.84%, 6,554.35
Nikkei Futures, +5.79%, 20,067.5

MARKET WRAP 

• The S&P 500 rallied 4.96% on Wednesday from what many believed to be extremely oversold conditions on a short-term basis. Rebounding oil prices ($46.13/bbl, +$3.45, +8.1%), strong holiday sales, and some short covering helped drive the S&P 500 to its best one-day gain since March 2009. Risk-on sentiment was on full display with all 11 S&P 500 sectors finishing with gains. The cyclical consumer discretionary (+6.3%), energy (+6.2%), and information technology (+6.1%) groups outperformed the broader market.
• Amazon (AMZN 1470.90, +126.94, +9.5%) and retail stocks, in particular, led the consumer discretionary space higher. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 40.65, +2.20) rose 5.7%. Amazon announced a record-breaking holiday season, and MasterCard’s SpendingPulse report noted that holiday sales from November 1 through December 24 showed the strongest year-over-year growth rate since 2011, resulting in a new record for dollars spent.
• Demand for U.S. Treasuries faded as investors flocked to riskier assets. Consequently, the 2-yr yield gained three basis points to 2.60%, and the 10-yr yield gained five basis points to 2.80%. The U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.5% to 97.07.

NOTABLE MOVES 

As of Fri, Dec 25, 08:00 GMT (UTC +08:00)

USDJPY, +0.01%, $110.29
EURUSD, +0.18%, $1.1414
GBPUSD,  0.00%, $1.2718
USDCAD, +0.07%, $1.3601
AUDUSD, -0.07%, $0.7043
NZDUSD, -0.03%, $0.6725

S&P500, -2.71%, 2,351.10
Nasdaq, -2.21%, 6,192.92
Nikkei Futures, -2.09%, 19,332.0

HOLIDAY WRAP 

• Investors did not receive any notable economic data on Monday. The stock and bond markets were both closed on Tuesday for Christmas.
• The S&P 500 fell -2.71% on Monday, as follow-through selling and unsettling developments in Washington served to further dampen investor sentiment. Trading action was cut short with the stock market closing early ahead of Christmas Day.
• A nettlesome headline that dampened investor sentiment involved the news that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin made an unexpected call to the CEOs of the nation’s six largest banks on Sunday. That call was intended to shore up confidence in the U.S. financial system at a time of heightened market volatility, yet it proved unsettling to the market giving its timing, which followed on the heels of a huge loss for stocks last week, the start of a partial government shutdown, and rumors – refuted by Mnuchin, that Trump had discussed firing Fed Chair Powell. Trump for his part tweeted  that, “…the only problem our economy has is the Fed.”

 

Altcoin Bitcoin Private Confirms Additional 2 Million Coins Secretly Premined
The development team behind altcoin Bitcoin Private (BTCP) has confirmed the creation of 2.04 million units of BTCP “that were never intended to exist on the blockchain”. During the import of Bitcoin (BTC) chain data, an additional 2.04 million units of altcoin BTCP, about $3.9 million, were secretly minted. Per the project’s white paper, the total supply of BTCP is equal to around 20.4 million coins, while the secretly premined BTCP brought “the initial supply to 22.6 million.” The BTCP core team says in today’s statement that upon receiving the reports, they “immediately launched an investigation to ascertain whether or not the alleged findings of an additional amount of BTCP coins were true.” The BTCP team writes that they have contacted major crypto exchange HitBTC about the situation.

 

GMO Internet Exits Bitcoin Miner Production After Recording ‘Extraordinary Loss’ in Q4
Japanese internet giant GMO Internet Group is quitting the Bitcoin mining hardware sector. GMO will further relocate its mining operation “to a region that will allow us to secure cleaner and less expensive power supply.” GMO’s consolidated losses for Q4 totalled 35.5 billion yen ($320 million), while the unconsolidated loss tally will be around 38 billion yen ($334.5 million). The company said that the losses had not impacted its “financial integrity.” Conversely, in November, the company had reported “historical” performance of its cryptocurrency projects in Q3, which included mining hardware sales. Profits had totalled 2.6 billion yen ($22.8 million).

 

Ex-CIA Official Claims Blockchain Is ‘Biggest Threat’ to Future of US National Security
A former CIA intelligence officer, Andrew Bustamante, claims that blockchain is super powerful stuff that represents a threat to America’s national security. Bustamante did not further on his remarks but he acknowledged one other Redditor’s response, who asked him for clarification in regard to blockchain versus developments in quantum computing — to which Bustamante responded with “fair point!!!” Bustamante’s exclamation spawned a discussion of the possibility that quantum computing will “forever alter” the cryptographic protection that underpins blockchain — thus specifically attributing Bustamante’s “bring it down” to an argument along this vein. One Redditor suggested his remarks could refer to “the persistent possibility of untraceable, anonymous transactions [that] can happen” on blockchains as being one type of national security threat allegedly posed by the technology. Another pointed to the potential for “falsified” data — i.e. hijacking the blockchain for the purposes of disinformation — which would allegedly become all the more pernicious when stored in an immutable blockchain-based system.