WTI rising yet again
West Texas Intermediate futures are fighting around a $120 a barrel mark to break above this level yet again. After three months since WTI hit $125 mark and then slowly retraced back to $90, WTI is trying to get back to these record high numbers. Some investors believe that due to the US summer driving season the price can even increase above $125.
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
SEC’s fight with crypto intensifies
The SEC filed a new lawsuit against Jake Paul, citing crypto promotions without disclosing the payment he received for the promotion. Justin Sun is being sued for fraud and market manipulation. The SEC alleges unregistered sales of securities (TRX and BitTorrent). Moreover, Coinbase received a Wells Notice focused on staking and asset listing.
EUR/USD rose above 1.0900 after the Fed raised interest rates, the highest since early February. Another Fed’s rate hike of 25bps was delivered, but the US dollar weakened all around the place.
Fed raised interest rates by 25 bps
The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 bps as expected, from 4.75% to 5%. The news pushed Bitcoin to $29,000 and Nasdaq close to $13,000.
Enterprise blockchain adoption will be sped up thanks to a new partnership between Chainlink Labs and PwC Germany. Chainlink Labs will offer services to traditional businesses who are already working with PwC but have not yet adopted blockchain technology.
Magic Eden supports Bitcoin NFT trading
Magic Eden has become one of the first major NFT marketplaces to support Bitcoin NFTs (Ordinals). The company aims to leverage the rising interest in Ordinals after over 560,000 inscriptions were made. This is the fourth supported blockchain after Solana, Ethereum, and Polygon.
Russia to internationalize Chinese Yuan
Putin advocated for the internationalization of the Chinese yuan, saying that around two-thirds of trade between Russia and China is conducted in yuan and ruble. The president said his country supports the use of the yuan in trade between Russia and countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.