2024-03-25 15:53

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters. Investing.com - Goldman Sachs maintains its positive view on the commodity markets, but says it’s important to stay selective even with fading cyclical risks. The influential investment bank turned long on commodities early in 2024, citing cyclical and structural support to demand, and the role of commodities as a geopolitical risk hedge. The bank now reiterates this view, three months into the year, with Commodity total returns at 9% year-to-date, below the 15% it expects by the year-end, which could climb to 20% in some sectors. Goldman analysts expressed renewed confidence in cyclical support for the commodity sector . despite this being the main pushback from investors of late. “With the trough in global manufacturing PMIs behind us and our economists’ strong conviction of rate cuts in the US and Europe from June this year, we expect further support to commodities demand and prices, particularly across copper, aluminum and oil products,” Goldman analysts said, in a note dated March 24. Additionally, structural support to commodities remains intact, as evidenced by strong green metals demand and oil product margins year to date. Lastly, the role of commodities investing as a geopolitical hedge remains topical, as illustrated by the ongoing Red Sea shipping disruptions and recent attacks on Russian refining capacity. That said, Goldman continues to emphasize the importance of being selective when investing in commodities, pointing to copper’s bullish qualities, while noting year-to-date price declines in U.S. natural gas and lithium, while nickel and zinc are roughly flat. https://www.investing.com/news/commodities-news/cyclical-risks-fading-for-commodities--goldman-3351897

2024-03-25 15:02

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters The Pyth Network announced the addition of Ambient, a decentralized exchange protocol formerly known as CrocSwap, to its community of data providers. The collaboration is said to enhance the real-time price feeds crucial for Web3 developers by integrating Ambient's approach to automated market making on blockchain assets. Ambient, recognized for its combination of concentrated and ambient constant-product liquidity pools, will now contribute its real-time price data to the Pyth Network. This move is expected to improve the network's data quality and security, benefiting the global Web3 development community. Since its launch in mid-2023, Ambient has quickly made a mark on the decentralized finance (DeFi) scene, operating on platforms like Blast, Scroll, Ethereum, and Canto, with over $50 million in total value locked (TVL) and $650 million in transaction volumes. "We are excited to leverage our market data to support the Pyth Network ecosystem," said Doug Colkitt, Founder of Ambient Finance. "Our contribution of pricing data from our deep, liquid pools is anticipated to heighten the network's security, efficiency, and transparency in financial data on-chain." The partnership follows the Pyth Network's integration with the Filecoin Virtual Machine (VM) in January. The integration enables both Web2 and Web3 entities to access essential financial data. Pyth is already collaborating with over 80 market participants, including prominent names like Jane Street, CBOE, Binance, OKX, and Bybit. With over $2.0 billion in value secured in less than a year, the Pyth Network now offers over 400 real-time price feeds across a diverse range of categories, including commodities, stocks, FX, cryptocurrencies, and now ETFs. The infrastructure of the network supports more than 50 blockchains and facilitates a trade volume exceeding $100 billion. By providing high-fidelity, high-frequency financial market data, Pyth addresses the critical need for accurate and timely data among applications, bridging the gap between on- and off-chain events with smart contracts across any blockchain platform. The network's data feeds are integral to the operations of crypto desks and trading exchanges, which rely on its platform to obtain accurate, real-time data. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/pyth-network-taps-ambient-as-data-provider-to-boost-web3-price-feeds-3351840

2024-03-25 14:39

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters Despite Bitcoin's price reaching record highs above $70,000, the real economic activity on its blockchain shows a marked slowdown from the frenetic pace of the 2021 bull market, according to data from Glassnode. This trend suggests a strong holding sentiment among investors, with many apparently waiting for even higher prices before they consider selling their Bitcoin holdings. Blockware Solutions analysts highlighted in their latest newsletter that the average U.S. dollar value of on-chain Bitcoin transfers remains significantly lower than the peaks observed during 2021. "Average on-chain transfer volume is well below the 2021 bull market peak. Hardly any value is being moved on-chain," they noted, highlighting the reluctance among holders to sell at current price levels. Glassnode's data, which measures the dollar value of Bitcoin transferred on-chain, shows that both the seven-day and 14-day average mean transfer volumes are currently below $200,000—far from the $1 million-plus levels seen in 2021. This decline in on-chain volume is partly attributed to the growing prominence of Nasdaq-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs, which have concentrated spot volume away from the blockchain. Other indicators also reflect a strong ‘hodl’ pattern among investors who weathered the 2022 bear market. For instance, the percentage of Bitcoin supply last active between three and five years ago is on the rise. Several analysts are predicting that Bitcoin's price could rally into six figures in the coming months, with some setting their targets above the $150,000 mark. "Once we see the price really start to move, that's when on-chain volume will surge. Older coins will move to exchanges to be sold. Until then, low on-chain volume is a sign of supply-side illiquidity," Blockware analysts explained. At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $67,700, up 5% on a 24-hour basis. The broader market, as measured by the CoinDesk 20 Index, also saw a 5% uplift, reflecting a cautiously optimistic sentiment across the cryptocurrency sector. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/bitcoin-onchain-activity-lags-despite-price-surge-analysts-note-3351832

2024-03-25 10:22

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters. Investing.com - The U.S. dollar has started the new week on the back foot Monday, handing back some of the previous week's gains, as traders await the release of key inflation data as well as more comments from Federal Reserve speakers. At 05:20 ET (09:20 GMT), the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, traded 0.2% lower at 104.010, having recorded a weekly gain of nearly 1% last week. Fed’s favored inflation gauge in focus The greenback has seen some consolidation at the start of the week, falling slightly from a one-month high, after last week’s dovish signals from the Swiss National Bank and Bank of England suggested that the dollar will remain the only relatively high-yielding, low-risk currency in the near-term. The Fed did flag the likelihood of 75 basis points of rate cuts this year, but added that this would depend largely on the path of inflation. This brings the release of the core personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed’s preferred gauge of underlying inflation, firmly into focus, even though it is due when markets are closed for Good Friday. The index, which excludes food and energy costs, is forecast to rise 0.3% in February after posting its biggest monthly increase in a year the prior month. There are a number of Fed officials due to speak this week – including Fed Chair Jerome Powell, Atlanta Fed president Raphael Bostic and Fed governors Lisa Cook and Christopher Waller. Their comments will also be studied carefully as the market seeks clues over the path for policy interest rates, including the likelihood of the central bank starting to cut rates in June. Sterling, euro recover slightly In Europe, GBP/USD gained 0.1% to 1.2614 and EUR/USD rose 0.1% to 1.0818, with both pairs rebounding slightly after last week’s sharp losses against the dollar. Bets for a June rate cut by the European Central Bank and the Bank of England have risen substantially after the Swiss National Bank became the first major central bank to lower borrowing costs last week and BoE Governor Andrew Bailey told the Financial Times that rate cuts "were in play" this year. Additionally, Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel said late last week that the ECB may be in a position to cut interest rates before the summer recess, possibly in June, as inflation is on its ways back to the bank's 2% target. Europe has its own inflation tests this week with consumer price data out from France, Italy, Belgium and Spain, ahead of the overall eurozone CPI report next week. Yen receives verbal support USD/JPY traded 0.1% lower at 151.28, with the yen receiving some support after a top Japanese currency diplomat offered a verbal warning on potential intervention by the government. Masato Kanda, vice finance minister for international affairs, said that recent weakness in the yen did not reflect the currency’s fundamentals, and that the government remained ready to respond to the yen’s slide. USD/CNY fell 0.2% to 7.2120, after Reuters reported that the People’s Bank of China had instructed state-owned banks to buy yuan and sell dollars in the open market, to support the Chinese currency. The yuan tumbled to four-month lows in recent sessions amid growing concerns over a sluggish Chinese economy. https://www.investing.com/news/forex-news/dollar-slips-ahead-of-feds-favored-inflation-gauge-euro-sterling--edge-higher-3351124

2024-03-25 06:01

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters. Bitcoin price rose on Monday, recovering its losses from last week and more, as sustained capital flows into exchange-traded funds and anticipation of the upcoming “halving” buoyed the world’s largest cryptocurrency. In addition, BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)'s venture into asset tokenization and the initiation of a global central bank easing cycle also contributed to bullish pressure. Bitcoin has now risen back above the $70,000 mark, currently sitting at $70,578.9 as of 14:02 ET (18:02 GMT), up 8%. Bitcoin price underpinned with ETF inflows, upcoming halving in focus The world’s largest cryptocurrency tumbled from record highs over the past week, sinking as low as $60,000 as traders locked in profits from a recent melt-up to record highs. But the token rebounded sharply from those lows as capital flows into the recently approved spot exchange-traded funds remained robust. However, sustained outflows from Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (BTC) (NYSE: GBTC) provided some pressure on spot Bitcoin prices. Anticipation of the upcoming “halving” event, where the Bitcoin network’s generation of new tokens will be slashed by 50%, also kept buying interest in the cryptocurrency upbeat. The halving event is expected to occur some time in April with the generation of the 740,000 block, and is likely to further limit Bitcoin supply. But markets remain unclear over the exact timing of the event. Still, a bigger recovery in Bitcoin price was largely limited by strength in the dollar. The greenback raced to a one-month high on Monday as dovish signals from major global central banks saw investors largely favor the dollar as the only high-yielding, low-risk currency. Anticipation of more signals on U.S. interest rates- from key personal consumption expenditures data, which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge- also kept the dollar upbeat. The data is due this Friday. A string of Fed officials are also set to talk through this week, offering up more cues on the bank’s plans for interest rate cuts in 2024. Last week’s Fed meeting showed the central bank still saw 75 basis points worth of cuts this year. BlackRock unveils tokenized asset fund on Ethereum; Swiss central bank starts global easing cycle From a broader perspective, the crypto market’s positive start to the week was also helped by BlackRock’s latest foray into asset tokenization. Dubbed ‘BUIDL,’ the world’s largest asset manager’s tokenized asset fund will be built on the Ethereum network. It represents BlackRock’s first-ever tokenized fund issued on a public blockchain. Moreover, the upward momentum of Bitcoin may also be influenced by a slowdown in selling pressure from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). Analysts cite Genesis' sale of shares as a contributing factor to the decrease in GBTC outflow, thus contributing to BTC's rise. Lastly, the latest macro indicators continue to paint a bullish picture, with the Swiss National Bank (SNB) making an unexpected move by lowering the benchmark interest rate, signaling the start of a global easing cycle. Joining this trend, the Central Bank of Mexico also implemented rate cuts, while the Fed, the European Central Bank, and the Bank of England are expected to make similar moves in the coming months. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/bitcoin-price-recovers-above-67k-with-focus-on-etf-inflows-halving-3350852

2024-03-25 05:29

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters. Investing.com-- Gold prices rose Monday, attempting to steady following a recent wobble as dollar strength eased and gold exchange-traded-funds recorded a first inflow ahead of a slew of remarks from Federal Reserve members and key inflation report later this week. Spot gold rose 0.2% to $2,169.77 an ounce, while gold futures expiring in April rose 0.6% to $2,172.35 an ounce. Gold prices steady as dollar strength fades amid Fed speak Physical gold ETFs recorded the first weekly inflow of the year, totaling a significant 483,000 ounces, RBC said in a recent report. The signs of ETF investor appetite follows comes just days after the Federal Reserve kept its outlook for three rate cuts this year. Still, the dollar index reversed gains to fall 0.3% on Monday even as some Fed members signaled that they aren't so sure that three rate cuts are needed this year. Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic reiterated Monday that he sees the need for just one rate this week, adding that the strong economy allows the central bank to continues with its cautious approach. The slew of Fed speaks this week, which will includes remarks from Fed governor Christopher Waller and chairman Jerome Powell, will be rounded off by the release of PCE price index data- the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge due Friday. Other precious metals were a mixed bag on Monday following steep declines in the prior session. Platinum futures rose 1% to $916.50 an ounce, while silver futures were flat at $24.84 an ounce. Copper prices inch higher Among industrial metals, copper prices climbed Monday after steep losses in the prior session. Three-month copper futures on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.2% to $8,869 a ton, while one-month U.S. copper futures rose 0.1% to $4.01 a pound. Copper’s recent rally was driven chiefly by expectations of tighter supplies as major Chinese refiners signaled plans to cut production. https://www.investing.com/news/commodities-news/gold-prices-rise-but-pinned-below-record-highs-as-dollar-strength-persists-3350821