European natural gas surges
TTF natural gas futures, the European benchmark, increased by nearly 30%, close to €280 per megawatt hour on Monday. This happened after falling to a three-week low of €203 on Friday. Now Russia’s Gazprom abandoned plans to reopen the Nord Stream pipeline and instead decided to shut it down permanently due to maintenance needs.
More market movers from category
Gold rose above $2,000 for the first time in one year. This is because of the ongoing fears about the crash of the banking system. Gold is up 10% so far in 2023.
WTI crude fell by more than 5% to $67.5. This is the lowest level since December 2021, marking the end of the commodity rally for now.
WTI crude drops amid high volatility
WTI crude fell by more than 5% to below $73, close to a level not seen since early December. The decline is likely caused by financial contagion fears following the Sillicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapses.
Commodities fall after Fed’s press
Silver tumbled from $21 to $20 in the midst of a global selloff. The commodity fell by almost 5% in a single day. Platinum also dropped by 4.7%, and gold declined by 1.8%.
US natural gas tumbled 10% when the market opened. This is after the commodity bottomed out and rose almost 50% in less than two weeks.
Platinum was on track to lose 20% in six weeks but refused to drop below $900. Instead, it jumped more than 4.5% to $950, slowly rising back to $1,000.
More market movers
The euro strengthened against all fiat currencies, supporting the ongoing trends. EUR/AUD jumped 1.5%, while EUR/JPY and EUR/GBP are up 1.2%.
Texas introduces a Bitcoin bill
Texas introduced a bill that should protect Bitcoin miners, holders, and developers. The bill explains how Bitcoin made several technological breakthroughs, including blockchain and distributed ledger.
FRC gains 30% amid banking mayhem
After a banking bloodbath for the past few weeks, First Republic Bank (FRC) gained 30%. The stock jumped from $12 to $16, but is still down from $120 three weeks ago.
Canada’s annual inflation rate dropped to 5.2% from the previous month’s 5.9%. This is the lowest reading since January 2022 and falls short of the market’s projection of 5.4%. Core inflation decreased as well, from 5% to 4.7%.
After Balaji made a bet that Bitcoin would hit $1 million, Strike CEO, Jack Mallers, joined him. This is due to fears of hyperinflation in the US. In the meantime, the fear and greed index reached 16-month highs, bringing euphoria to the crypto market.
Florida Governor wants to ban CBDCs
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called for a ban on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). He pointed out some negative effects, including higher surveillance over citizens or a cap on CBDC holdings.