The US equities ended last week on quite a high note, and the latest market optimism could be explained by hope to see a second month of softening inflation in the US at this week’s CPI release. Due Tuesday, the US will reveal its latest CPI figure which is expected to have eased to 8.1% in August, from 8.5% printed a month earlier, and from the 9.1% peak printed the month before that. If the data is soft enough, or ideally softer than expected, the equities will likely continue pushing higher this week as well. If, however, the data is not as soft as expected, or worse, if we see a higher figure than last month’s read, then last week’s gains in equities will likely be quickly given back.
In the FX markets, we saw a decent pullback in the US dollar index last Friday, following the 75bp hike from the European Central Bank (ECB), and news that Japanese are increasingly uncomfy regarding the abnormally stronger USD.
The EURUSD tests the important 50-DMA to the upside, gold benefits from a broad-based pullback in US dollar, meanwhile crude oil is softish as high energy prices hit the prospects of economic growth, and global demand.
Bitcoin traded at $22K during the weekend on overall positive sentiment, while the much expected Ethereum upgrade will happen around the 15th of September.