Inflation...
Inflation in Spain came at a spitting distance to the 10% mark, and inflation in Germany shot up to 7.3% in March, compared to 6.3% expected by analysts and 5.1% printed a month earlier. The EURUSD extended gains to 1.1160 as the jaw-dropping inflation data from the Eurozone countries revived the European Central Bank (ECB) hawks, but the chief Christine Lagarde said that the ECB will only ‘move gradually to normalize policy in the face of raging inflation’. US crude tanked to $101 per barrel this morning on news that the United States is considering the release of up to 180 million barrels from its strategic petroleum reserve over several months to calm soaring crude prices, as OPEC and Russia are likely to stick to their existing deal to gradually increase oil production. Cheaper oil gives a positive spin to the equity markets this morning, but inflation worries keep the central bank hawks alert as the US yield curve inversion leads to heated discussions about a possible recession in the US. On the individual company front, Tesla is reported to have multi-year deals for nickel supply, and Apple wants to reduce its reliance to third parties for its financial products. On the data front, the latest jobs report showed that the US added 455000 new private jobs in March, in line with the expectations. The Q4 growth has been revised slightly lower to 6.9%. Due today, the PCE index, which is another gauge of inflation will certainly confirm the rising pressures in February and keep the Fed hawks on alert – despite the recent fall in crude oil prices.
Watch the full episode to find out more!
- 0:00 Intro
- 0:16 European inflation shoots up, revives ECB hawks
- 3:30 Crude oil dives on news that US could release strategic reserves
- 4:56 Nickel is expensive, but Tesla has 'secret' deals with suppliers
- 6:40 Apple getting aggressive on fintech, and we love it!
- 8:39 About the US yield curve inversion
- 9:31 Macro data round-up
Ipek Ozkardeskaya has begun her financial career in 2010 in the structured products desk of the Swiss Banque Cantonale Vaudoise. She worked at HSBC Private Bank in Geneva in relation to high and ultra-high net worth clients. In 2012, she started as FX Strategist at Swissquote Bank. She worked as a Senior Market Analyst in London Capital Group in London and in Shanghai. She returned to Swissquote Bank as Senior Analyst in 2020.
