NOTABLE MOVES
USDJPY, -0.25%, $113.41.
EURUSD, +0.24%, $1.1393 .
GBPUSD, -0.30%, $1.2786.
AUDUSD, +0.22%, $0.7322.
S&P500, -0.22%, 2,737.80
Nasdaq, -0.25%, 7,273.08
Nikkei, +0.79%, 22,352.51
CURRENCY MARKET WRAP
- In FOMC minutes, almost all Fed officials saw the need for another rate hike “fairly soon,” they also discussed the possibility of changing the language on “further gradual rate hikes.” Dollar continues to remain offered. U.S. Core PCE Price Index m/m at 0.1% vs expected 0.2%. Personal Spending m/m at 0.6% vs expected 0.4%. U.S. Treasuries finished near their unchanged marks with the benchmark 10-yr yield losing one basis point to 3.04%. Also, the U.S. Dollar Index finished flat at 96.76.
- At the start of the NY session, Euro was one of the weakest currencies (Low:1.1349) because there were reports that the US would levy tariffs on EU autos before Christmas. Concerns about the impact of the tariffs forced investors to ignore better labor data from Germany and stronger Eurozone confidence. Shortly after the NY open however, the European Commission denied those reports and the Euro recouped its losses. German Prelim CPI m/m at 0.1% vs expected 0.2%.
- Speculation that there could be a different kind of Brexit deal if the Parliament rejects PM May’s plan were erased after EU’s Chief Negotiator Barnier said that negotiations are over and that now is the time to ratify the deal. Also, PM May said that the UK will leave the EU next March, whether there’s a deal approved or not. U.K. Net Lending to Individuals m/m at 5.0B vs expected 4.5B.
STOCK MARKET WRAP
- The S&P 500 trimmed this week’s rally by -0.22% on Thursday with market participants shifting focus to this weekend’s G-20 meeting between Trump and China President Xi Jinping. Though the market succumbed to early profit-taking from Wednesday’s Powell-driven rally, stocks gradually climbed from session lows as news wires heated up with U.S.-China trade headlines. The Wall Street Journal noted (unnamed) officials on both sides are floating the idea of forestalling any further tariffs through the spring to set the stage for a new round of talks to address changes in China’s economic policy. In addition, The South China Morning Post reported that Peter Navarro, a well-known China trade hawk, will be attending the dinner meeting between Trump and President Xi on Saturday. Navarro’s presence at the dinner table briefly unnerved investors.
BLOCKCHAIN & CRYPTOCURRENCY NEWS
Coinbase Adds Privacy-Centric Crypto Zcash to Pro Trading Exchange
Crypto exchange Coinbase Pro is adding privacy coin zcash to its listings. The platform announced that customers can transfer zcash into its professional trading platform, though as with previous additions, users can not yet purchase the token until the exchange has established enough liquidity. Deposits will be accepted for at least 12 hours after the announcement at 18:00 UTC. When trading is enabled, only Coinbase Pro users in most of the U.S., UK, European Union, Canada, Singapore and Australia will be able to access the coin. Due to the nature of the privacy coin, full support is not yet being added. As the post explains, zcash offers both transparent and shielded transaction types, which show different amounts of information about a transaction. Upon official word of the listing from Coinbase Pro, the price of zcash began a significant uptick at 18:00 UTC. Just five minutes later the cryptocurrency had jumped 15 percent to reach a 9-day high of $99.13, according to data from the Binance exchange.
Galaxy Digital Lost $136 Million in the First Three Quarters of 2018
Mike Novogratz’s crypto investment bank Galaxy Digital has lost $136 million in the first three quarters of 2018. Galaxy Digital’s realized and unrealized losses in Q3 amounted to $41 million, which when combined with the results of previous quarters, amounts to the firm being out $136 million so far this year. The firm’s share price also dropped to a record low after tumbling 55 percent this month. Founded earlier this year, the company explained that the losses were mainly due to tumbling prices of major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ripple (XRP), and Ethereum (ETH). Earlier in November, Novogratz predicted that Bitcoin would surge to as high as “$20,000 or more” in 2019. In an interview with U.K.-based Financial News, the industry expert stated that Bitcoin can end this year at around $8,900 before “taking out” $6,800.
Huobi Cryptocurrency Exchange Launches Derivative Market
Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange Huobi has launched the Huobi Derivative Market (Huobi DM). Huobi presented its new platform at the Cryptofrontiers conference in New York City today, stressing that the Huobi DM allows customers engage in cryptocurrency contract trading on both rising and falling cryptocurrency prices. The platforum purportedly provides tools for hedging and controlling risk and uncertainty. Contract trading allows users to purchase and sell digital currencies at predetermined prices at specified times in the future, giving investors and traders an opportunity to open both long and short positions. Huobi notes that Huobi DM is currently in beta testing and is not available for customers in the U.S., Singapore, Israel, Malaysia, and Hong Kong, among others. Under Chinese law, any company with more than three Communist Party member employees must set up its own branch, while until recently, the practice was mostly confined to state enterprises. Huobi thus became evidently the first cryptocurrency industry business to embrace the tradition.